Amazon’s Workforce Reduction Strategy
Tech behemoth Amazon is poised to implement substantial layoffs, targeting approximately 15 percent of its human resources personnel, with additional cuts anticipated across various sectors within the organization.
This information has been corroborated by multiple insiders familiar with the strategy, as reported by Fortune.
The repercussions of these reductions will extend beyond the People eXperience Technology (PXT) team, which encompasses roles in recruitment, technology, and conventional HR functions, reported to Senior VP Beth Galetti and comprising over 10,000 employees worldwide.
However, the total number of positions expected to be eliminated and the timelines for these layoffs remain unspecified.
In the wake of previous dismissals, Amazon is now redirecting its focus and resources toward artificial intelligence, a move designed to streamline costs associated with its workforce.
Earlier this year, the corporation already executed layoffs within its consumer devices segment, the Wondery podcast division, and Amazon Web Services.
Fiscal Strategy and AI Investments
The impending job cuts align with Amazon’s strategy of tightening employee expenditures while concurrently amplifying its investments in artificial intelligence. This year, the firm plans to allocate over $100 billion toward capital expenditures primarily aimed at expanding its cloud and AI data centers.
CEO Andy Jassy previously navigated the company through a historic wave of layoffs during the late stages of 2022 to early 2023, which saw the elimination of more than 27,000 corporate roles—a substantial portion of its office workforce.
This movement mirrored a broader trend of significant layoffs across major tech companies, prompted by shifting consumer behaviors and a cooling pandemic-era demand.
As part of this transition, Amazon is rapidly embracing AI technologies to streamline routine tasks and tackle more complex operations. In a recent communication, Jassy encouraged employees to harness AI’s capabilities, articulating that those who acquire skills in this area will find themselves poised for greater opportunities in the near future.
Anticipatory Workforce Adjustments
Furthermore, Jassy emphasized that there would be inevitable workforce diminutions in tandem with the rise of AI integration.
“Those who adapt to this evolution and contribute to enhancing our AI capabilities will be well-positioned to make significant impacts and aid in the company’s reinvention,” he noted in a company-wide message released on Amazon’s corporate blog.
In a candid acknowledgment, Jassy remarked, “We expect that this will result in a decrease in our overall corporate workforce as we achieve efficiencies through extensive AI employment.”

The CEO had alluded to possible layoffs in a prior communication, underlining the expectation of downsizing over the forthcoming years as AI takes a firmer grip on operational management.
While these corporate layoffs are in the offing, Amazon simultaneously announced its plan for the seasonal hiring of 250,000 temporary employees for its warehouses and logistics networks across the United States, as part of its annual holiday hiring campaign.
Source link: M.economictimes.com.