Amazon set to layoff 16,000 employees amid AI integration

Amazon disclosed on Wednesday that it’s embarking on 16,000 job cuts across its global operations. The layoff marks the company’s second round of layoffs in three months and forms part of its shift towards integrating artificial intelligence.

This development is part of the company’s planned second round of layoffs of 30,000 corporate roles. The job cut is expected to affect workers in Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video and the human resources departments.

The 30,000 jobs would together represent a small portion of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees, nearly 10% of its corporate workforce. The majority of its workers are in fulfilment centres and warehouses.

For the company, the layoffs come during a period of multiple restructurings and the alleviation of operational pressures. 

Amazon expanded aggressively during the pandemic years. Consumer demand, supply chain drag, and logistics challenges forced the company to staff up across nearly every function. As demand normalised and operational inefficiencies accumulated, the cost burden became unsustainable.

Another major driver is its increased integration of AI and automation to replace workers and prepare for future job cuts. 

Amazon already occupies a leading position in cloud infrastructure (AWS), and executives view AI as a lever to reshape internal workflows. In June, the company told employees it expects AI adoption to reduce the corporate headcount over time.

When the company slashed 14,000 white-collar jobs in late October, CEO Andy Jassy stressed the need for the company to eliminate excessive bureaucracy by reducing both operational levels and the number of managers.

Aside from the integration of new models and operational adjustments, external factors are also forcing Amazon to streamline its workforce. This includes macroeconomic headwinds, rising interest rates, inflation, and weaker consumer spending, which have reduced the company’s returns across retail, cloud, and hardware businesses.

The job cuts come at a time when notable scalability in AI models is helping tech companies and businesses execute their tasks, from routine administrative tasks to complex coding problems. With these innovations come rapid speed and precision, thereby fueling massive adoption.

Also Read: Amazon to cut at least 30,000 corporate jobs in its biggest layoffs yet.

Amazon’s layoff timeline 

Over the past few years, Amazon has repeatedly reduced staff as it navigates shifting margins, evolving priorities, and a world adjusting to post-pandemic realities.

In late 2022 and 2023, Amazon laid off roughly 27,000 employees across its corporate divisions in two major rounds of cuts. Those earlier cuts affected units such as Web Services, advertising, devices, communications, and non-core ventures.

Earlier in 2025, Amazon also made smaller cuts. In January, it eliminated dozens of roles within its communications and sustainability units. In more recent months, about 100 jobs were taken out of its Devices & Services division, including roles tied to Alexa, Kindle, and other hardware lines.

The latest job cuts of 30,000 corporate workers mark the largest yet. It comes when the company is investing in robotics at its warehouses to speed up packaging and deliveries for its e-commerce segment.

Amazon is not the only one in the layoff game. Tech giants, including Amazon, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, have lately been restructuring and reducing their workforce as they increasingly embrace AI assistants.

The post Amazon set to layoff 16,000 employees amid AI integration first appeared on Technext.