Amazon is bracing for another round of corporate job cuts as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter, marking a key step in the company’s broader plan to trim around 30,000 white-collar roles globally.
The move follows a major reduction in October, when Amazon eliminated roughly 14,000 office jobs — about half of the total number it intends to cut. The upcoming round is expected to be of a similar scale, with notifications potentially beginning as soon as Tuesday. The sources requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak publicly about internal plans.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the development.
Which Teams Could Be Hit
According to people familiar with the discussions, roles across several major divisions may be affected, including:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Core retail operations
- Prime Video
- Human resources, internally known as People Experience and Technology
That said, the exact scope and final numbers are still fluid, and plans could change before announcements are made.
AI, Efficiency, and a Culture Reset
When Amazon announced the October layoffs, the company linked the decision to rapid advances in artificial intelligence. In an internal note, leadership described AI as the most transformative technology since the internet, saying it enables companies to innovate at unprecedented speed.
However, CEO Andy Jassy later offered a different explanation. Speaking during Amazon’s third-quarter earnings call, Jassy stressed that the cuts were “not really financially driven” and “not even really AI-driven.”
Instead, he pointed to internal culture and bureaucracy.
As Amazon expanded, Jassy said, layers of management piled up, slowing decision-making and creating inefficiencies. Reducing headcount, in this view, is part of a longer-term effort to streamline operations rather than a short-term cost-saving move.
Jassy had already signalled earlier in 2025 that Amazon’s corporate workforce would likely shrink over time as AI tools improve productivity and reduce the need for large teams.
AI Still Looms Large
Even if leadership downplays AI as the primary driver, its influence is hard to ignore. Across corporate America, companies are increasingly using AI to write software code, automate repetitive tasks, and deploy AI agents to handle routine workflows.
Amazon itself has been aggressively promoting its latest AI models and services, particularly through Amazon Web Services, which showcased new AI offerings at its annual cloud conference in December.
A Historic Reduction — But a Small Slice of the Workforce
If completed, the full 30,000 job reduction would represent nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce — but only a small fraction of its total employee base of about 1.58 million people. Most Amazon employees work in warehouses and fulfillment centres, which are not expected to be heavily impacted by these cuts.
Still, this would mark the largest layoff in Amazon’s three-decade history. For context, the company cut around 27,000 roles during its 2022 restructuring.
What Happens to Affected Employees
Workers impacted in October were kept on payroll for 90 days, a period during which they could apply for internal roles or seek jobs elsewhere. That transition window expires on Monday, just days before the next round of cuts is expected to begin.
Final Words
Amazon’s impending layoffs highlight how even the world’s most powerful tech companies are rethinking how they operate in an AI-driven era. While leadership frames the move as a cultural reset rather than an AI purge, the end result is the same: a leaner corporate structure built for speed, automation, and long-term efficiency — with thousands of employees caught in the middle.
