Amazon is reportedly planning a massive reduction in its non-warehouse staff, targeting as many as 30,000 corporate jobs starting this week, as the e-commerce giant works to pare expenses and correct for pandemic-era overhiring, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.
This significant workforce contraction, which would be the largest layoff at Amazon since approximately 27,000 roles were eliminated starting in late 2022, represents nearly 10% of the company’s approximately 350,000 corporate employees. The job cuts are expected to begin with email notifications being sent out on Tuesday morning, following preparatory training given to impacted team managers on Monday, Reuters reported.
The core drivers for the reduction are two-fold, an aggressive effort to cut costs company-wide amid a tougher economic environment and to compensate for the major staffing boost that occurred during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic when demand for online commerce surged.
The scale of this reduction highlights a continued trend of efficiency drives across the tech sector. Sources indicated to Reuters that the cuts may impact a wide array of divisions, including human resources, known internally as People Experience and Technology, as well as the devices and services and operations groups. This latest downsizing aligns directly with chief executive officer Andy Jassy’s strategic initiative to reduce what he has characterised as an “excess of bureaucracy” within the massive organization, including a focus on managerial layers.
Jassy has also publicly suggested that the company’s increased reliance on Artificial Intelligence tools would likely result in further job eliminations by automating many repetitive and routine tasks, a shift that analysts suggest is a major underlying factor in such substantial corporate staff reductions. This move, one of the largest single rounds of tech industry layoffs in recent years, underscores the company’s commitment to prioritising efficiency over sheer headcount.
Despite the deep corporate cuts, Amazon appears to be expecting a strong holiday season. The company still plans to offer 250,000 seasonal jobs to staff its warehouses, matching its seasonal hiring figure from the past two years. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, Reuters noted. The report surfaces just before the company is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings on Thursday.