Amazon is eliminating about 16,000 jobs as part of an ongoing effort to streamline operations, the company said Wednesday — months after CEO Andy Jassy announced plans to reduce its total corporate workforce by using generative AI “extensively” across the company.
“I want to let you know that we’re making additional organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates,” Beth Galetti, senior VP of people experience and technology, said in a statement to employees.
The move, which will affect roles across the company, marks Amazon’s second round of mass layoffs since October, when approximately 14,000 corporate jobs were cut.
According to Galetti, the latest round of cuts is part of a continuous effort to “strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy.”
The company did not provide specifics on which areas would be most affected by the cuts, but said U.S.-based employees will have 90 days to seek an internal role. Those who are unable to secure a new position, or choose not to pursue one, will be offered severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits and other transition support from Amazon.
Amazon’s recent job cuts should not be seen as “the beginning of a new rhythm,” Galetti said. “That’s not our plan,” she added, while not ruling out future job reductions.
“Every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate,” Galetti said. “That has never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.”
The latest job cuts come amid a prosperous time for the world’s largest e-commerce platform, with profits rising nearly 40% to around $21 billion in its most recent quarter, and revenue surpassing $180 billion.
According to its CEO, the mass layoffs are not directly related to AI or the company’s finances.
“It’s culture,” Jassy said in October after the first round of job cuts. “And if you grow as fast as we did for several years, the size of businesses, the number of people, the number of locations, the types of businesses you’re in, you end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers.”
On Tuesday, the company announced it would close all its physical Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores.
With News Wire Services
