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.

At least several hundred employees were dismissed on Thursday, according to insider accounts, as the company boosts its transition towards artificial intelligence-driven operations.

While Amazon declined to disclose the exact number affected, a spokesperson admitted in a formal statement to Reuters: “We’ve made the difficult business decision to eliminate some roles across particular teams in AWS. These decisions are necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimise resources to deliver innovation for our customers.”

The cuts hit multiple AWS teams, including customer support, training and certification units, and notably, the “specialists” group. These specialists are responsible for helping clients develop new products and solutions using Amazon’s cloud services.

Reports reveal employees received termination emails early Thursday morning. Their system access was revoked immediately, in what some described as abrupt and disorienting exits.

This move follows warnings from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who had previously flagged that generative AI tools and autonomous agents would reshape the company’s workforce needs. 

Jassy has been candid about the company’s strategy to streamline operations, reduce unnecessary management layers, and change focus towards high-growth segments like cloud infrastructure and AI solutions.

Amazon’s latest layoff aligns with others including Microsoft, Meta, Salesforce, and Intel have all cut jobs this year as AI continues to displace traditional roles. Since 2022, Amazon alone has eliminated over 27,000 corporate positions, including recent reductions in its books, devices, and podcast arms.

Nonetheless, AWS still drives Amazon’s profit more than other arms. The division posted $29.3 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2025, a 17% year-on-year increase, and reported $11.5 billion in operating income. 

But with this, growth is slowing compared to previous years. This has prompted management to reassess headcount and focus hiring on AI-related positions.

Internally, Amazon has been embedding AI across its operations, including Alexa, shopping assistants, logistics and developer tools. Developers have reportedly saved over 450,000 hours using AI systems for technical work.

While Amazon says growth areas will create new roles later on, current job layoffs at AWS show a transitional period where cost savings and automation are taking priority over personnel retention.