Amazon is bracing for another sweeping wave of layoffs next week, intensifying its aggressive restructuring drive aimed at eliminating nearly 30,000 corporate roles, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.
The e-commerce and cloud computing giant already slashed around 14,000 white-collar positions in October roughly half of the total target first revealed by Reuters.
Insiders say the upcoming cuts could mirror last year’s scale and may begin as early as Tuesday. The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Multiple divisions are expected to feel the impact, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), retail operations, Prime Video, and its human resources arm, known internally as People Experience and Technology. However, sources cautioned that final decisions remain fluid and could still shift.
While Amazon initially linked its October layoffs to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, describing AI as the most disruptive force since the internet, CEO Andy Jassy later reframed the narrative.
Speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Jassy stressed that the workforce reduction was neither financially motivated nor purely AI-driven.
Instead, he pointed to deep-rooted organizational inefficiencies, saying Amazon had become weighed down by excessive bureaucracy and management layers.
“You end up with far more people and far more complexity than necessary,” Jassy remarked.
Earlier in 2025, Jassy signaled that Amazon’s corporate headcount would continue to decline as automation and AI-powered efficiencies reshape daily operations.
Like many global corporations, Amazon is increasingly relying on AI to generate software code and deploy intelligent agents to handle routine tasks. The company showcased its latest AI innovations at its annual AWS cloud conference in December.
Although the planned 30,000 job cuts represent a small slice of Amazon’s massive 1.58 million global workforce most of whom are employed in warehouses and fulfillment centers they account for nearly 10% of its corporate staff.
If carried through, the move would become the largest workforce reduction in Amazon’s three-decade history, surpassing the roughly 27,000 layoffs recorded in 2022.
Workers affected in October were granted a 90-day transition period, allowing them to pursue internal opportunities or seek employment elsewhere. That window officially closes on Monday.
