Reports indicate that Amazon plans to eliminate 30,000 corporate positions across various departments, including Human Resources and Amazon Web Services (AWS), as part of a strategy to optimize operations and enhance productivity through artificial intelligence, despite the company’s record financial performance.
Amazon is poised to commence layoffs affecting up to 30,000 corporate employees starting Tuesday, October 28. This decision is part of an ongoing initiative aimed at curtailing costs and rectifying excessive hiring that occurred during the peak demand phase of the pandemic.
While this figure constitutes a mere fraction of Amazon’s extensive workforce of 1.55 million, it represents nearly 10% of its 350,000 corporate employees. This latest wave of layoffs follows the previous elimination of 27,000 roles undertaken in late 2022.
The impending job reductions will affect multiple divisions, including Human Resources (People Experience and Technology), operations, devices, services, and AWS, according to various reports.
Managers within the affected teams were instructed on Monday, October 27, to prepare for communication with employees, who will begin receiving notifications via email starting Tuesday, October 28.
Rationale Behind Amazon’s Layoffs
CEO Andy Jassy is spearheading a movement to streamline Amazon’s operations, which involves dismantling unnecessary layers of management. This restructuring has been influenced by feedback from an anonymous tip line, leading to numerous process improvements.
The company’s increasing reliance on AI for automation is also anticipated to diminish the need for human workers, particularly in repetitive roles.
This initiative underscores Amazon’s capability to realize significant productivity enhancements through AI, thus rationalizing the workforce reductions. Furthermore, the imperative to manage immediate expenses while investing in long-term AI initiatives may be propelling these changes.
A recently instituted program mandating employees to return to the office full-time has inadvertently contributed to these layoffs, with some individuals reportedly classified as having voluntarily resigned for non-compliance.
The technology sector at large has experienced substantial layoffs, with around 98,000 job losses recorded in 2024 alone. Although Amazon’s cloud segment, AWS, remains a principal revenue generator, it is experiencing a deceleration in growth relative to competitors such as Microsoft and Google Cloud.
Despite these reductions, Amazon expresses optimism regarding the holiday season, announcing the creation of 250,000 seasonal positions and planning a reorganization within its diversity-centric People Experience and Technology unit. Notably, Amazon’s stock saw a 1.2% increase as it prepares to unveil its third-quarter earnings later this week.
Source link: Wionews.com.
