Amazon to cut about 14,000 corporate jobs amid AI-focused restructuring

SAN FRANCISCO -- Amazon said Tuesday that it is planning to reduce its corporate workforce by about 14,000 positions as part of a broader effort to streamline operations, eliminate bureaucracy, and accelerate investment in artificial intelligence (AI).

The move marks the e-commerce giant's second-largest round of layoffs after it cut around 22,000 jobs in 2022.

In a memo to employees, Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the decision aims to make the company "even stronger" by reallocating resources toward its "biggest bets."

"This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet," Galetti wrote, adding that it is enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before, both in existing market segments and entirely new ones.

In a June memo, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company would require fewer employees as it deploys more AI tools. "As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done," Jassy wrote. "We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs."