Amazon Planning to Lay Off Up to 30,000 Corporate Workers

Amazon is preparing to cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs beginning Wednesday, representing nearly 10% of its approximately 350,000 corporate employees, according to three sources familiar with the matter speaking to Reuters and Bloomberg.

The layoffs could impact employees across human resources (People Experience and Technology/PXT), operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Managers of affected teams underwent training Monday on communicating with staff ahead of email notifications starting Tuesday morning.

The cuts represent a small percentage of Amazon’s 1.55 million total employees but would mark the company’s largest job reduction since late 2022, when it eliminated around 27,000 positions.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

CEO Andy Jassy is undertaking an initiative to reduce bureaucracy, including reducing the number of managers.

He installed an anonymous complaint line for identifying inefficiencies that has generated approximately 1,500 responses and over 450 process changes, he said earlier this year.

Jassy indicated in June that increased use of artificial intelligence tools would likely lead to further job cuts, particularly through automating repetitive and routine tasks.

“This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realising enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force,” said Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst.

“Amazon has also been under pressure in the short-term to offset the long-term investments in building out its AI infrastructure.”

A program begun early this year requiring employees to work in-office five days per week, among tech’s most stringent policies, has failed to generate sufficient attrition, two sources said, citing this as another reason for the layoff size.

Some employees not swiping in daily because they live far from corporate offices or for other reasons are being told they have voluntarily quit Amazon and must leave without severance, creating cost savings for the company.

Fortune earlier reported the human resources division could face cuts of roughly 15%.

Amazon announced Friday a reorganisation of a PXT segment focused on diversity initiatives, largely involving promotions to new roles, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters.

Amazon has been trimming smaller numbers of jobs over the past two years across multiple divisions including devices, communications, and podcasting.

The company last held major layoffs at the end of 2022 into 2023, cutting 27,000 workers.

According to Layoffs.fyi, approximately 98,000 tech jobs have been lost so far in 2025 among 216 companies.

For all of 2024, the figure was 153,000.

Amazon’s largest profit centre, AWS, reported second-quarter sales of USD $30.9 billion (A$46.4 billion), a 17.5% increase well below Microsoft Azure’s 39% gain and Google Cloud’s 32% increase.

Estimates indicate AWS will boost third-quarter sales by about 18% to USD $32 billion (A $48 billion), a slight slowdown from last year’s 19% increase.

AWS is recovering from a roughly 15-hour internet outage last week that disrupted popular services including Snapchat and Venmo.

Despite corporate layoffs, Amazon plans to offer 250,000 seasonal jobs to staff warehouses for the holiday season, matching the prior two years.

Amazon shares rose 1.2% to USD $226.97 (A$340.45) on Monday.

The company plans to report third-quarter earnings Thursday.

The full scope of layoffs remains unclear, with sources indicating the number could change as Amazon’s financial priorities shift.