Key Takeaways
- Amazon plans to cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs starting October 28
- This represents nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce
- Cuts follow CEO Andy Jassy’s push to reduce bureaucracy and leverage AI
- Affected divisions include HR, operations, devices, and Amazon Web Services
Amazon is preparing to eliminate as many as 30,000 corporate positions beginning October 28, according to sources familiar with the matter. The massive layoff represents the company’s largest workforce reduction since 2022 and affects nearly 10% of its approximately 350,000 corporate employees.
Scope and Impact of the Job Cuts
The upcoming layoffs target multiple divisions across the e-commerce giant. Affected areas include human resources (known as People Experience and Technology or PXT), operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services. While the final number may change based on financial priorities, this round of cuts would surpass the 27,000 positions eliminated in late 2022.
Managers of impacted teams underwent training on October 27 to prepare for communicating with staff after email notifications begin going out on the morning of October 28.
CEO’s Efficiency Drive and AI Impact
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been actively working to reduce what he describes as excess bureaucracy, including trimming management layers. Earlier in 2025, he revealed that an anonymous complaint line for identifying inefficiencies had generated approximately 1,500 responses and led to over 450 process changes.
In June, Jassy indicated that increased adoption of artificial intelligence tools would likely result in further job reductions, particularly through automation of repetitive tasks.
“This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realizing enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force,” said Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst. “Amazon has also been under pressure in the short-term to offset the long-term investments in building out its AI infrastructure.”
Additional Factors Behind the Layoffs
Sources cited Amazon’s stringent return-to-office policy as another factor contributing to the layoff size. The program, which requires employees to work from the office five days per week, failed to generate sufficient voluntary attrition. Some employees who haven’t been complying with the policy are being classified as having voluntarily quit, allowing Amazon to avoid paying severance.
According to Layoffs.fyi, approximately 98,000 tech jobs have been eliminated so far in 2025 across 216 companies, compared to 153,000 throughout 2024.
AWS Performance and Business Context
Amazon’s cloud computing division, AWS, reported second-quarter sales of $30.9 billion, representing a 17.5% increase that lagged behind competitors Microsoft Azure (39%) and Google Cloud (32%). Estimates suggest AWS will post third-quarter sales growth of about 18% to $32 billion.
The division is still recovering from a recent 15-hour internet outage that disrupted popular online services including Snapchat and Venmo.
Despite the corporate cuts, Amazon plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season, matching its hiring levels from the previous two years. The company also recently reorganized part of its PXT unit focused on diversity initiatives, primarily through internal promotions.
Amazon shares rose 1.2% to $226.97 on October 27, with third-quarter earnings scheduled for release on October 30.
