Amazon to cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs as post-pandemic cost pressures mount: Report

Amazon is preparing to lay off as many as 30,000 corporate employees as of Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The move is part of the company’s effort to rein in costs after what it sees as overextension during the pandemic boom.

Biggest cuts since 2022

The planned layoffs represent about 10 percent of Amazon’s nearly 350,000 corporate employees, but only a fraction of its 1.55 million global workforce. If finalized, this would be the company’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of nearly 27,000 positions starting in late 2022.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment, according to Reuters.

Large segmental impact

The outages are expected to affect various departments across the company. The report noted that roles in Human Experience and Technology (human resources), devices and services, and operations are among the roles in the firing line due to changing financial priorities.

Amazon has cut fewer positions in devices, communications, podcasting and other teams over the past two years.

Managers trained on layoff communication

According to the report, managers in affected business units attended training on Monday to prepare for notification emails scheduled to be sent Tuesday morning.

Jassy’s effort at efficiency

CEO Andy Jassy has launched an initiative to eliminate what he calls “excessive bureaucracy”, including reducing layers of management. He set up an anonymous internal system to flag inefficiencies, which has led to nearly 1,500 submissions and more than 450 process changes so far.

Jassy said earlier this year that increased use of AI tools will lead to further reductions in workforce by automating repetitive tasks.

Layoff numbers may vary

The final size of the layoffs could change as Amazon’s financial strategy continues to adjust, sources told Reuters.

Amazon shares rose 1.3% to $227.11 near Monday’s close. The e-commerce and cloud giant is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Thursday.