Amazon plans to lay off as many as 30,000 corporate employees starting Tuesday, marking one of the largest rounds of white-collar job cuts in the company’s history. The move represents roughly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce and underscores the company’s ongoing shift toward automation and efficiency.
According to reports from Reuters and Business Insider, the layoffs will affect multiple divisions, including human resources, devices and services, operations, and other departments across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Pandemic Over-Hiring and Current Cost Pressures
The cuts come as part of Amazon’s continued efforts to reduce expenses following rapid expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet soaring demand during lockdowns, Amazon significantly increased hiring across both its corporate offices and warehouses. Now, faced with slower growth and rising operational costs, the company is scaling back.
Of Amazon’s 1.55 million total employees, about 350,000 work in corporate roles. The upcoming layoffs will therefore affect a substantial portion of the company’s professional and managerial staff.
Layoff Logistics and Severance
Internal messages reviewed by Business Insider show that Amazon managers in affected departments were required to attend meetings on Monday to learn how to communicate the layoffs to their teams. Beginning Tuesday, employees slated for termination will receive official notifications via email.
Those impacted will reportedly receive 90 days of pay and benefits as part of their severance package.
AI and Automation Replace Traditional Roles
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been open about the company’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence and automation. In a June interview, Jassy said that AI would “eventually replace more roles” within Amazon, particularly in administrative and operational areas.
The company has already implemented widespread automation in its warehouses, where robots now handle much of the sorting, packaging, and transport work once done by humans. Jassy hinted that this transformation would continue, predicting that robots could soon outnumber people in some facilities.
Context: Previous Layoffs and Ongoing Restructuring
This is not the first time Amazon has reduced its workforce. In 2023, the company laid off approximately 27,000 employees, citing the need to streamline operations amid uncertain global economic conditions.
Despite the new wave of corporate cuts, Amazon still plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers to meet high demand during the holiday shopping period. Those positions will primarily involve warehouse, fulfillment, and delivery work.
Industry Trend
Amazon’s announcement follows similar moves across the tech industry, where companies such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft have also trimmed their workforces this year as they invest heavily in AI development. The layoffs reflect a broader shift in how technology companies are restructuring around automation and digital efficiency.
Looking Ahead
While Amazon has not yet detailed which offices or job categories will be hit hardest, analysts say the move signals the company’s long-term strategy to balance automation-driven growth with cost control.
