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| Amazon headquarters amid mass layoffs as company cuts 30,000 corporate jobs for AI-driven restructuring. |
Amazon Begins Major Layoffs: Up to 30,000 Corporate Jobs Cut Amid AI Push and Cost-Cutting Drive
Amazon has officially started one of the biggest corporate layoffs in its history, with up to 30,000 employees expected to lose their jobs this week. The move comes as part of the company’s broader effort to streamline operations, reduce costs, and ramp up investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
According to multiple media reports, Amazon managers were instructed to attend urgent training sessions on October 27, just hours before the layoffs began on Tuesday morning. Internal emails confirmed that affected employees across the US, UK, and Canada received their termination notices via email, marking the start of what analysts describe as a “massive corporate reset.”
Largest Job Cuts in Amazon’s History
The layoffs will impact nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, which currently stands at around 350,000 employees. This marks the company’s largest-ever job reduction, surpassing previous rounds of layoffs that began in late 2022 and affected about 27,000 roles.
Sources close to the matter told Reuters that the cuts affect multiple divisions, including Human Resources (People Experience and Technology), Operations, Devices & Services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Industry experts say this wave of job cuts reflects Amazon’s focus on maintaining profitability while allocating massive resources toward AI-driven innovation and cloud services expansion.
HR Division Faces the Deepest Cuts
Reports from Fortune suggest that Amazon’s HR division may lose up to 15% of its workforce, impacting thousands of employees globally. CEO Andy Jassy has reportedly directed the company to balance its growing AI ambitions—estimated to cost over $100 billion this year—with aggressive cost-cutting across non-core departments.
Meanwhile, CNBC noted that this could be the largest layoff event in the global tech industry since 2020, signaling a continued slowdown across the sector despite strong AI investments.
Return-to-Office Policy Adds Pressure
The layoffs also follow internal challenges with Amazon’s return-to-office policy, which requires most employees to work from office five days a week. Despite the company’s hope that stricter attendance rules would lead to voluntary exits, the policy reportedly failed to reduce headcount significantly.
Internal communications reviewed by Business Insider show that Amazon offered affected employees 90 days of full pay and benefits as part of the severance package. However, sources reveal that morale remains low as employees brace for more changes in the coming months.
AI Growth Continues Despite Layoffs
Even as Amazon trims its workforce, the company continues to expand aggressively in AI and automation technologies, aiming to compete with global tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
Experts suggest that the layoffs could help Amazon reallocate funds toward high-growth areas like AI data centers, logistics automation, and cloud computing innovation — essential for long-term profitability.
Despite the turmoil, Amazon announced plans to hire 250,000 seasonal warehouse workers ahead of the upcoming holiday season, signaling that its retail and logistics operations remain strong.