Amazon is laying off 16,000 more workers as AI accelerates tech job losses

Amazon $AMZN is laying off 16,000 employees in its latest round of job cuts. An company email Tuesday, apparently sent in error, broke the news of “organizational changes” within the company’s cloud unit. Then on Wednesday, a post from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, appeared on Amazon’s corporate website, confirming the reduction.

“The reductions we are making today will impact approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon,” Galetti wrote, “and we're again working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted. That starts with offering most US-based employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (timing will vary internationally based on local and country level requirements). Then, for teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we'll provide transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits (as applicable), and more.”

“While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future,” Galetti added.

The reduction raises questions about Amazon’s long-term workforce plans, which have made news in recent months, with 14,000 layoffs announced in October, bringing the total recent corporate layoffs to about 30,000 today. Senior executives have been saying, openly if somewhat obliquely, that more layoffs are coming. In interviews at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was vague about timing but relatively clear about the direction. “In the next couple of years, I could see us having fewer people than we had before” Jassy said. “Jobs are going to be impacted by what’s happening with AI over time.”

Galetti referenced the trend in her post. “Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan. But just as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate. That’s never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.”

However the world may be changing, Amazon’s corporate culture has long been said to be tough and even cutthroat. The author Kristi Coulter, who spent a dozen years working as an executive in Amazon’s corporate offices and wrote a memoir about the experience after she left in 2018, recently spoke of “a culture where exhaustion and overwork were worn as badges of honor” and described how, even as a manager, talking about burnout “didn’t feel safe.” Amazon didn't respond to Coulter's comments.

Amazon employs more than one million people globally, and took in approximately $700 billion in revenue over the last 12 months.