Amazon's AI Push Just Got Brutal: Up to 30,000 Jobs on the Chopping Block

Amazon AMZN is taking another deep cut at its corporate ranks, announcing plans to eliminate around 14,000 jobs in a sweeping restructuring drive. The number could reach as high as 30,000, according to Reuters, marking one of the biggest workforce reductions since CEO Andy Jassy took over. Jassy's message is straightforward: Amazon is too bloated, and it's time to automate. The company's pandemic-era hiring spree left layers of management that Jassy now wants to peel away as he redirects capital toward artificial intelligence and its highest-growth bets.

As of June 30, Amazon employed about 1.55 million people worldwide, but that figure has been steadily shrinking since late 2022, when Jassy's first round of cuts wiped out 27,000 corporate roles. Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the latest reductions aim to remove layers and shift resources toward what matters most to customers. Behind the scenes, Amazon has quietly tightened attrition targets and stopped backfilling roles across logistics and advertising, signaling that the cost discipline runs deeper than the headline layoffs suggest.

Jassy's long game revolves around AIautomating internal workflows, optimizing logistics, and improving cloud efficiency. With earnings due this week, investors are watching closely to see whether this aggressive streamlining signals proactive management or hints at a slowdown in Amazon's core businesses. Either way, the restructuring could set the stage for a leaner, more tech-driven Amazonone that trades excess headcount for long-term operating leverage.