Amazon to сut 14,000 jobs in major corporate restructuring

Amazon.com Inc. announced plans to eliminate approximately 14,000 corporate positions as part of a sweeping restructuring effort aimed at streamlining operations and reallocating resources toward high-priority initiatives.

The layoffs were confirmed in a blog post by Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, who said the decision was part of ongoing efforts to reduce bureaucracy and improve efficiency, Bloomberg reports.

“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,” Galetti said.

According to a Reuters report on October 27, the total number of affected jobs could reach as many as 30,000, citing people familiar with the matter.

Amazon, which employed 1.55 million people globally as of June 30, is scheduled to release its earnings report on October 30 for the quarter, which ended September 30.

The company has undergone several rounds of workforce reductions since CEO Andy Jassy took over in 2021. Between late 2022 and early 2023, Amazon cut roughly 27,000 corporate positions as part of earlier restructuring efforts.

Jassy has repeatedly emphasised the company’s push to increase automation and integrate artificial intelligence across its operations. In June, he signaled that Amazon’s workforce would likely continue to shrink as AI takes over more tasks traditionally performed by humans.

The latest cuts follow months of internal cost controls and hiring freezes. Over the summer, Amazon reportedly set higher attrition targets and chose not to refill vacant roles in key corporate areas such as logistics and advertising.

By Sabina Mammadli