Amazon announced Wednesday it will eliminate 16,000 corporate positions as part of an organizational restructuring aimed at reducing management layers and streamlining operations.
Bloomberg reports that Amazon announced Wednesday it will eliminate 16,000 corporate positions as part of an organizational restructuring. The job cuts represent part of a broader effort by the technology giant to remove bureaucratic obstacles and increase employee ownership across the company.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, disclosed the workforce reduction in a blog post on Wednesday. The company will provide affected US-based employees with a 90-day period to search for alternative positions within the organization. Those unable to secure new roles will receive severance packages and transition assistance.
Galetti emphasized the company’s commitment to organizational improvement, stating that Amazon has been working to strengthen its structure by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy. She also sought to reassure employees and stakeholders that the company does not plan to announce broad staff cuts every few months, though Amazon will continue to make adjustments as deemed necessary.
The latest round of layoffs brings Amazon’s total announced job cuts to 30,000 over a three-month period, following an initial wave of reductions in October. The scale of these cuts reflects Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy’s determination to address organizational concerns that emerged following a pandemic-era hiring surge that significantly expanded the company’s corporate workforce.
Breitbart News previously reported that Jassy blamed “culture” for the October job cuts, after warning that AI would be replacing positions at the company in the near future:
Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, is bracing for a significant shift in its workforce as AI technology advances. In a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, CEO Andy Jassy warned that the company expects AI to reduce its total corporate workforce in the next few years, as the technology brings efficiency gains across various departments.
Jassy’s memo, which was also made public, highlighted the potential impact of AI on both corporate workers, such as software developers, and employees in Amazon warehouses. He stated that AI would “improve inventory placement, demand forecasting, and the efficiency of our robots” in the company’s fulfillment centers.
Amazon employed approximately 1.57 million people as of September 30, though the vast majority of these workers are employed in the company’s warehouse and fulfillment operations. The corporate workforce comprises roughly 350,000 personnel, meaning the latest cuts represent approximately 4.6 percent of that segment of the company’s headcount.
Word of the impending layoffs reached some Amazon employees before the official announcement. An internal meeting invitation titled “Project Dawn” was prematurely scheduled by Amazon Senior Vice President Colleen Aubrey, referencing “impacted colleagues” based in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica. The email, which acknowledged that “changes like this are hard on everyone,” quickly circulated on internal message boards and external social media platforms like Reddit, where workers discussed the anticipated job cuts.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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