Amazon plans second round of layoffs as part of 30,000 job cuts

Amazon is planning a second round of job cuts next week as part of its broader goal of trimming some 30,000 corporate workers, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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The company in October cut some 14,000 white-collar jobs, about half of the 30,000 target first reported by Reuters.

Massive Amazon layoffs

The total this time is reportedly expected to be roughly the same as last year and could begin as soon as Tuesday (January 27), according to an NDTV report, citing people in the know, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorised to discuss Amazon's plans.

Jobs in the company's Amazon Web Services (AWS), retail, Prime Video and human resources, known as People Experience and Technology, units are slated to be affected, the people said, though the full scope was unclear, NDTV reported.

The full scope of the Amazon layoffs is still unclear. The people cautioned that the details of Amazon's plans could change.

AI-driven move

The tech giant said the October round of job cuts to the rise of artificial intelligence software, saying in an internal letter that "this generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before."

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However, CEO Andy Jassy later told analysts during the company's third-quarter earnings call that the reduction was "not really financially driven and it's not even really AI-driven."

Rather, he said, "it's culture," meaning the company has too much bureaucracy. "You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers," he said.

Jassy had said earlier in 2025 that he expected Amazon's corporate workforce to shrink over time as a result of efficiencies gained from the use of AI.

90-day transition period

Corporations are increasingly using AI to write code for their software and adopting AI agents that automate routine tasks, as they look to save costs and cut reliance on people. Amazon touted its latest AI models during its annual AWS cloud computing conference in December.

30,000 jobs would represent a small portion of Amazon's 1.58 million employees, but nearly 10 per cent of the firm's corporate workforce. The majority of Amazon's workers are in fulfillment centers and warehouses.

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It would be the largest layoff in Amazon's three-decade history. The company trimmed about 27,000 jobs in 2022.

Affected workers in October were told they would remain on the payroll for 90 days, during which time they could apply for jobs internally or seek other employment. That period expires on Monday (January 26).