Amazon just announced its largest corporate layoffs ever, cutting 14,000 jobs as CEO Andy Jassy reshapes the company around generative AI. The cuts represent 4% of Amazon's corporate workforce and come as the tech giant commits $100 billion to AI development while facing pressure to catch up with rivals in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Amazon dropped a bombshell Tuesday morning, announcing it's cutting 14,000 corporate jobs in what the company calls its biggest restructuring move yet. The layoffs hit as CEO Andy Jassy doubles down on his $100 billion bet that generative AI will transform how the world's second-largest private employer operates.
"This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet," Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, wrote in the company's official announcement. "We're convinced we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible."
The numbers tell a stark story. Amazon employs roughly 350,000 corporate and tech workers out of its 1.54 million global workforce, making these cuts a 4% slice of its white-collar operations. But Reuters reports the actual impact could reach 30,000 employees, citing sources familiar with the restructuring plans.
This isn't Jassy's first swing at cutting costs. Since taking over from Jeff Bezos in 2021, he's already eliminated 27,000 positions between 2022 and 2023. The difference now? AI anxiety is driving the cuts as much as cost concerns. "We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs," Jassy told employees back in June, essentially telegraphing Tuesday's announcement.
The timing couldn't be more telling. Amazon faces mounting pressure to prove its cloud and AI divisions aren't falling behind Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI in the generative AI race. The company's AWS cloud division, once the undisputed leader, now battles fierce competition from Microsoft's Azure and Google Cloud, both powered by advanced AI capabilities.
Wall Street's watching closely as Amazon prepares to report third-quarter earnings Thursday. Investors want proof that the company's massive AI spending - including partnerships with Anthropic and custom chip development - will pay off. The job cuts send a clear signal: Amazon's willing to sacrifice short-term workforce stability for long-term AI dominance.
