As Amazon prepares for another round of corporate layoffs, employees were rattled on January 27, after receiving a calendar invite titled, ‘Send Project Dawn email’. The invitation sent by the company is linked to an internal invitation which is aimed at improving efficiency. As reported by Business Insider, the email was sent by an assistant on behalf of Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of AWS solutions.As per the invite, the event was scheduled for 5 a.m. pacific time on January 28, but it was quickly canceled. Still, the accidental invite fueled speculation and concern across Amazon’s workforce.
Amazon calendar invite confirms job cuts
As per the report, the email invite with the subject line ‘Project Dawn’ was described as part of Amazon’s ongoing effort to streamline operations. ““This is a continuation of the work we’ve been doing for more than a year to strengthen the company by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy, so that we can move faster for customers,” Aubrey’s note read.It also stated that notifications to impacted employees in the US, Canada and Costa Rica had been completed, hinting that layoffs were already underway.
Slack channels fill with confusion
The misfired email invite quickly spread across internal Slack channel with more than 36,000 Amazon employees, where staff debated whether the message was intended for Aubrey’s entire organization or only those affected by cuts.One employee wrote, ““Am I impacted or sent by mistake to all?” Another said, “Well, if you needed solid proof that tomorrow is legit, the Project Dawn email is it.”Some employees speculated that those who received the invite might actually be safe from layoffs, though uncertainty remained high.
Amazon is preparing for another significant round of layoffs
Recently, it was reported that Amazon is preparing for another significant round of layoffs. As reported by Reuters, Amazon is planning to eliminate approximately 14,000 corporate positions in coming weeks. This would be Amazon’s second biggest layoff since October 2025, bringing the company’s total planned job cuts to around 30,000 roles—the largest layoff in Amazon’s three-decade history.The e-commerce giant initially cut about 14,000 white-collar jobs in October, and the upcoming round is expected to mirror that scale. Employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), retail operations, Prime Video, and the human resources division—known internally as People Experience and Technology (PXT)—are among those likely to be affected, Reuters reported citing sources familiar with the matter.