The latest round, which is the biggest shake-up in the company’s history, cuts into Amazon’s white-collar ranks.

While the company still employs more than 1.5 million people worldwide, mostly in warehouses and delivery operations, this development strips away close to one in ten corporate roles. It also leaves the door open to further reductions in subsequent months.

Management says the decision is about speed and proper management. In a message to staff, Amazon’s chief people officer, Beth Galetti, said the company was acting to strengthen itself by “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy”.

She added that some teams would continue to “make adjustments as appropriate”, a line that has done little to calm nerves internally.

Under chief executive Andy Jassy, Amazon has been walking away from businesses that failed to justify years of investment. Just days before the layoffs were confirmed, the company said it would shut its remaining Amazon Fresh grocery shops and Amazon Go convenience stores, and abandon its Amazon One palm-scan payment system.

All three had been pitched as bold bets on the future of retail. None delivered at scale.

The cuts span much of the company. Staff in Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Prime Video, devices, advertising and last-mile delivery have reported being affected.

An internal email, sent in error to some employees, appeared to label the restructuring “Project Dawn”, a phrase that quickly spread across internal chats and unsettled thousands of workers, particularly within AWS. Amazon declined to explain the reference.

This is the second major round of layoffs in just three months. In October, Amazon said it would eliminate 14,000 corporate jobs, noting over-hiring during the pandemic and a need to adapt to rapid changes in how work gets done.

“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy wrote to staff last summer.

Amazon says this does not mean a new cycle of constant job cuts, both corporate and other jobs. Galetti addressed that concern, saying: “Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan.”

Still, she confirmed Amazon would continue to review teams and reshape them where needed.

Beyond Seattle, the impact is being felt globally. Employees in India are expected to be hit harder in this phase, particularly in AWS and Prime Video, according to people familiar with the matter.

That shows a big transition, as Amazon concentrates resources on fewer, more profitable lines while pushing automation more into its operations. The company has already invested heavily in robotics across its warehouses to cut expenses and speed up deliveries.

Amazon is not alone. Across Big Tech, the post-pandemic hiring spree is being unwound. Meta, Microsoft and Google have all trimmed staff as they redirect cash and talent towards advanced computing and automation.

Outside tech, UPS, Pinterest and ASML have also announced layoffs in recent days. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, executives acknowledged that while new jobs will emerge, automation is already changing who companies need, and how many.

For investors, the market reaction was muted. Amazon shares edged up slightly in pre-market trading ahead of the company’s quarterly results next week.

For employees, many affected workers will be given time to apply for internal roles, while those who leave will receive severance and benefits.

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The company confirmed this on Tuesday, saying the layoffs are part of a restructuring aimed at simplifying operations and enhancing focus on its long-term priorities.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, said in a company blog post, “The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs.”

The cuts will affect various divisions across Amazon’s corporate structure, including its human resources unit, known internally as People Experience and Technology (PXT), as well as operations, devices, services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

According to people familiar with the matter, some managers were briefed on Monday and trained on how to handle employee notifications, which began rolling out Tuesday morning.

This new round of layoffs follows a series of job reductions that began in late 2022, when the company eliminated about 27,000 corporate positions due to slowing growth after the pandemic boom. 

At the time, CEO Andy Jassy described the move as necessary to “right-size” the company following years of rapid expansion.

In recent months, Jassy has doubled down on efforts to reduce what he calls “excess bureaucracy.” He previously launched an internal anonymous feedback line that led to over 450 process changes, all aimed at improving efficiency. 

The CEO also hinted in June that advances in automation and artificial intelligence could reduce the need for certain corporate functions, noting that Amazon was “still larger than it needs to be” following its pandemic-era hiring spree.

The company’s focus on automation and AI-driven productivity has already begun to change its workforce. Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst, said, “This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realising enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force.”

While the 14,000 layoffs represent less than 5% of Amazon’s 350,000-strong corporate workforce, internal projections seen by Reuters suggest the number could eventually climb to as high as 30,000, depending on business priorities and financial outcomes in the coming quarters.

Amazon currently employs about 1.55 million people worldwide, including warehouse and logistics workers. Despite these corporate reductions, the company still plans to hire about 250,000 seasonal workers ahead of the holiday shopping season, maintaining the same hiring scale as the past two years.

The announcement comes just days before Amazon’s third-quarter earnings report, scheduled for Thursday.

Analysts expect modest growth in AWS, the company’s most profitable arm, after it reported a 17.5% year-over-year increase last quarter, lagging behind competitors Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

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