Amazon is preparing a sweeping layoff that could affect as many as 30,000 corporate employees, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans. The cuts come as the tech giant seeks to reduce costs, scale back pandemic-era overhiring, and integrate artificial intelligence. 

Though the figure represents a fraction of Amazon’s total workforce, it would mark the largest corporate layoff in the company’s history. Some 10 per cent of its about 350,000 “white collar” staff – compared with the company’s total of 1.55 million employees – may be affected.

This is not Amazon’s first major job cut. Over the past few years, the company has repeatedly reduced staff as it navigates shifting margins, evolving priorities, and a world adjusting to post-pandemic realities.

In late 2022 and 2023, Amazon laid off roughly 27,000 employees across its corporate divisions, in two major rounds of cuts. Those earlier cuts affected units such as Web Services, advertising, devices, communications, and non-core ventures.

Earlier in 2025, Amazon also made smaller cuts. In January, it eliminated dozens of roles within its communications and sustainability units. In more recent months, about 100 jobs were taken out of its Devices & Services division, including roles tied to Alexa, Kindle, and other hardware lines.

Taken together, those smaller reductions and earlier rounds still amount to tens of thousands of job losses. But none individually approach the scale of the new round now underway.

The build-up to this moment has also included cultural and operational shifts. Amazon has adopted a stricter return-to-office policy, mandated relocations for some employees, and signalled that AI will eliminate more redundancies— all moves insiders see as part of a more disciplined cost posture.

In June, CEO Andy Jassy warned that as Amazon deploys generative AI and autonomous agents, some corporate roles would become unnecessary. The implications of that memo are now becoming more apparent.

Amazon’s strategic drift, cost pressure, and AI as accelerant

The current round of layoffs reflects multiple converging pressures. First, Amazon expanded aggressively during the pandemic years. Consumer demand, supply chain drag, and logistics challenges forced the company to staff up across nearly every function. As demand normalised and operational inefficiencies accumulated, the cost burden became unsustainable.

Second, macroeconomic headwinds, rising interest rates, inflation, and weaker consumer spending, have squeezed margins across retail, cloud, and hardware businesses. Amazon is not immune to those forces.

Third, AI and automation now offer both replacement potential and justification for deeper cuts. Amazon already occupies a leading position in cloud infrastructure (AWS), and executives view AI as a lever to reshape internal workflows. In June, Jassy told employees he expects AI adoption to reduce the corporate headcount over time.

As a result, the upcoming cuts are not just cost cuts, they also reflect a pivot. Reallocate capital to AI, trim layers of managers, and eliminate roles that overlap with automation efforts.

The layoffs are expected to hit departments including human resources (internal group called People Experience and Technology, or PXT), operations, devices & services, and corporate infrastructure teams. Some estimates suggest up to 15 per cent of HR roles alone could be eliminated.

Managers in affected segments were reportedly trained in how to communicate layoffs ahead of email notices rolling out today.

For employees, the uncertainty is immediate and personal. Amazon typically offers departing corporate staff a severance package that includes salary continuation (often 60 days), benefits, and a payout based on tenure (usually a formula of one to two weeks’ pay per year of service, subject to caps).  

Some former employees report that Amazon has offered voluntary severance opportunities, leaving earlier in exchange for a fixed payout in lieu of waiting for involuntary cuts. Others raise concerns about so-called “silent sacking,” where performance pressure, relocation mandates, or aggressive return-to-office demands effectively push employees to quit rather than be fired, thus avoiding severance obligations.

The timing of the cuts also matters. Amazon is entering its holiday season cycle, when it often ramps up hiring for logistics and fulfilment roles. The announced cuts are focused on corporate roles; frontline warehouse and delivery staff may be less affected.

Nonetheless, the optics are stark. Even as Amazon invests heavily in AI and infrastructure, it is pulling in its workforce belt. The contrast reinforces a narrative already playing out across the tech sector, that growth bets are now deeply tied to efficiency, automation, and cost discipline.

Amazon’s new layoff wave arrives at a moment when the tech industry’s labour shakeout is already well underway. Others, including Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet, have each cut thousands of roles over the past few years as they reprice expectations in the face of macro pressure and AI transitions.

For Amazon, these layoffs may be the most consequential staff reset yet. The challenge will be navigating not just the logistics of cuts, but morale, optics, and rebuilding credibility with employees who survived the cull.