Amazon cuts 14,000 jobs as AI takes hold

Amazon said on Tuesday it will reduce its global corporate workforce by about 14,000 people, with more cuts expected next year, in a major shakeup driven in part by the adoption of artificial intelligence at the tech giant.

The online retailer began laying off employees across multiple divisions as part of a plan, reported on Monday by Reuters, to cut as many as 30,000 employees. The company has not confirmed the broader layoff plan, but in a companywide email, it indicated further cuts were planned.

Amazon is working to compensate for over-hiring during the peak demand of the pandemic and to limit costs as it enters its crucial holiday selling season.

The layoffs offer an early look at the possibly broad effects of AI on workforces. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy flagged the potential for such losses in June, saying increased use of AI tools and agents would lead to more corporate job cuts, particularly through automating routine tasks.

Amazon had about 1.56 million full-time and part-time employees at the end of last year. Its corporate workforce includes roughly 350,000 employees.

Workers told Reuters they learned their jobs were eliminated from letters sent to their personal email addresses early on Tuesday morning.

"You are no longer required to perform work on Amazon's behalf," reads the email from Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, which was sent to impacted employees.

Amazon will offer most affected workers 90 days to look for a new role internally and said its recruiting teams would prioritise those candidates.