Seattle: Amazon has begun its largest-ever round of layoffs, cutting around 14,000 corporate roles — nearly 10% of its global white-collar workforce — as part of a sweeping cost-reduction and efficiency drive led by CEO Andy Jassy.
According to Reuters, Amazon managers received urgent training sessions on Monday, October 27, on how to communicate the layoffs to employees. Just hours later, on Tuesday morning, termination emails began reaching corporate workers across divisions. The move follows months of internal restructuring and marks the biggest job reduction event in the company’s 30-year history.
Managers Prepared for “Difficult Conversations”
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that managers were instructed to prepare for “difficult conversations” with impacted staff, as email notifications were scheduled to go out the following morning.
The layoffs span multiple departments including Human Resources (PXT – People Experience and Technology), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Devices & Services, and Operations.
Deepest Cuts Hit HR as AI Spending Rises
According to Fortune, the HR division could see up to 15% of its staff cut, affecting thousands of roles globally. The company has simultaneously ramped up its AI and cloud infrastructure spending to over $100 billion this year — signaling a sharp pivot toward automation and artificial intelligence-driven operations.
CNBC reported that this layoff round surpasses any previous reduction within the tech industry since 2020. Amazon had already eliminated 27,000 jobs between 2022 and 2023, but this phase is expected to have a far broader impact across corporate units.
Severance and Global Impact
Internal memos viewed by Business Insider reveal that employees in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada are affected. The severance package includes 90 days of full pay and benefits post-termination.
CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing “efficiency initiative” seeks to flatten management layers and streamline decision-making. An anonymous internal feedback program has already generated more than 1,500 responses from employees commenting on workplace structure and culture.
However, Amazon’s five-day return-to-office mandate, reintroduced earlier this year, has not resulted in the voluntary attrition management had anticipated — leading the company to take the involuntary route through layoffs instead.
Holiday Hiring Continues Despite Cuts
Despite the corporate downsizing, Amazon continues to ramp up its logistics workforce, announcing plans to hire 250,000 seasonal warehouse employees for the upcoming holiday rush.
Analysts note that while these job cuts are aimed at streamlining operations and refocusing resources toward AI, they also underscore the growing pains of tech giants adjusting to post-pandemic realities — where automation, cost discipline, and workforce optimization are reshaping the corporate landscape.
Originally published on newsworldstime.com.
Originally published on 24×7-news.com.
