Amazon is preparing to roll out another round of corporate job cuts as early as next week, according sources cited by Reuters and Bloomberg. The move comes as the company continues efforts to reduce internal bureaucracy and streamline management layers.
The upcoming cuts follow Amazon’s decision in October to eliminate about 14,000 corporate roles, roughly half of a previously reported target of 30,000 white-collar jobs, Reuters reported.
The new round is expected to be similar in scale and could begin as soon as Tuesday.
Units expected to be affected
Roles across several major divisions are expected to be impacted, as per Reuters, including:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Retail
- Prime Video
- Human resources, known internally as People Experience and Technology
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Sources cautioned that the precise scope of the job cuts remains fluid and could still change.
Restructuring push
Managers had earlier been given the option to implement cuts in October or defer them to early 2026, per Bloomber, signalling that further reductions were likely.
{{/usCountry}}Managers had earlier been given the option to implement cuts in October or defer them to early 2026, per Bloomber, signalling that further reductions were likely.
{{/usCountry}}If fully implemented, the layoffs would amount to nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, which numbers about 350,000 employees, Reuters said.
Amazon employs roughly 1.57-1.58 million people globally, most of whom work in warehouses and fulfilment centres.
Amazon has previously carried out large-scale layoffs. Between late 2022 and early 2023, the company eliminated about 27,000 jobs, one of the largest workforce reductions in its history.
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Employees affected by the October cuts were allowed to remain on the payroll for 90 days while seeking internal roles or other employment, Reuters said. That transition period is set to expire shortly, just ahead of the expected new round of layoffs.
What's behind the cuts?
Amazon initially linked earlier job reductions to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, saying in an internal communication last year that AI was enabling faster innovation.
However, CEO Andy Jassy later said the cuts were “not really financially driven and it’s not even really AI-driven.” Instead, he pointed to company culture and excessive layers of management.
“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” Jassy said during Amazon’s third-quarter earnings call, according to Reuters.