Amazon cuts 16,000 jobs amid AI shift, post-pandemic restructuring
The restructuring and cost-cutting come despite soaring profits and strategic hiring in key areas
Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass lay-offs for the e-commerce company in three months.
The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that increased during the pandemic.
Beth Galetti, a senior vice-president at Amazon, said in a blog post on Wednesday that the company has been “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy”.
The company did not say what business units would be impacted, or where the job cuts would occur.
The latest reductions follow a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon said it was laying off 14,000 workers. While some Amazon units completed those “organisational changes” in October, others did not finish until now, Galetti said.
She said US-based staff would be given 90 days to look for a new role internally. Those who are unsuccessful or do not want a new job will be offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits, she said.