Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has announced plans to lay off up to 30,000 corporate employees, marking its largest round of job cuts since 2022. This is considered part of a major restructuring aimed at trimming bureaucracy, flattening management layers, and embracing automation and artificial intelligence to streamline operations.
According to company sources, the layoffs will affect teams across Human Resources (People Experience & Technology), Operations, Devices & Services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Notices are expected to begin this week, with managers trained to communicate the changes sensitively.
The cuts represent roughly 10% of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate workforce, though they are a fraction of its total 1.55 million global employees. Still, the announcement has sent ripples across the tech sector, which continues to face waves of consolidation and cost rationalisation.
During the pandemic, Amazon had expanded rapidly to meet unprecedented e-commerce demand. However, as consumer spending patterns stabilised, the company found itself overstaffed in several corporate functions. CEO Andy Jassy has since emphasised a return to leaner operations and greater reliance on AI tools, describing the changes as essential for long-term agility.
The timing of the layoffs is striking: even as corporate roles are being trimmed, Amazon plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for its upcoming holiday rush, signalling a clear divide between permanent corporate restructuring and temporary frontline expansion.
Industry analysts say Amazon’s move is symptomatic of a broader tech transition. The focus, experts suggest, is shifting from growth-at-all-costs to efficiency, automation, and precision in scaling.
For thousands of Amazon employees, this is a life-changing reality that taps into an uncertain future. Though the company has assured severance benefits and transition support, the sweeping layoffs reflect that even the tech world can be as volatile as the innovations driving it.
