Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a second wave of corporate job cuts next week, continuing a sweeping workforce reduction that began in October. Two people familiar with the company’s internal planning said the layoffs could mirror the scale of the earlier round, which eliminated about 14,000 white-collar roles, and could begin as early as Tuesday. While the full scope of the upcoming cuts remains unclear, the move would signal that Amazon is intensifying its efforts to reshape its corporate structure at a time when the tech giant is rapidly expanding its artificial intelligence ambitions.
The latest cuts are expected to target a range of units across Amazon’s sprawling business, including Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video and human resources, known internally as People Experience and Technology. Although the company has not confirmed the details and the plan could still change, the timing of the second round is notable: it comes as the 90-day period offered to October’s affected employees is set to expire on Monday, a window during which many were expected to seek internal transfers or outside work.
The October layoffs were framed by Amazon as a response to the rise of generative AI, with the company telling employees that the technology was transforming business operations at an unprecedented pace. In an internal letter, Amazon described the latest AI wave as “the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet,” suggesting that automation and AI-powered tools would allow the company to operate with fewer people. But the company’s public messaging has been less consistent, with CEO Andy Jassy later telling analysts that the reduction was not driven by financial necessity or AI alone. Instead, Jassy said the move was motivated by a desire to cut through bureaucracy and simplify Amazon’s internal structure.
“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” Jassy said, framing the cuts as part of a broader cultural shift. He has previously suggested that Amazon’s corporate headcount would decline over time as AI tools and automation create efficiencies. Yet the company’s repeated layoffs also reflect a broader industry trend in which corporations are increasingly turning to AI to write software, manage workflows and automate routine tasks in a bid to reduce costs and dependence on human labor. Amazon itself has been a prominent evangelist for AI, showcasing its latest models at its annual AWS cloud computing conference in December.
If Amazon follows through on the full 30,000 job target, it would represent the largest layoff in the company’s three-decade history. Though the number is a small fraction of Amazon’s overall workforce of 1.58 million employees, it would affect nearly 10% of its corporate staff, underscoring the company’s intent to reshape its management layers and streamline operations. The majority of Amazon’s workforce remains in fulfillment centers and warehouses, meaning the layoffs will be concentrated among higher-paid corporate roles rather than frontline logistics positions.
The planned cuts also come against the backdrop of a broader economic debate over the role of AI in the workplace. Companies across industries have embraced AI agents and automation as a way to boost productivity, reduce headcount, and accelerate innovation. For Amazon, which has long been known for its relentless focus on efficiency, the move reflects a willingness to embrace a more streamlined corporate model even as it expands into new technology frontiers. As the company prepares to move forward with the second wave of layoffs, the coming week may offer a clearer picture of how Amazon will balance its AI ambitions with the human costs of transformation.
