Amazon is preparing to eliminate as many as 30,000 corporate jobs this week, marking one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in years, according to people familiar with the matter.
The potential layoffs, first reported by Reuters, would represent the largest round of Amazon job cuts since late 2022, when the company slashed 27,000 positions during a sweeping cost reduction effort.
The reported reductions are expected to begin Tuesday and would affect several business segments, including human resources, devices and services, operations and other corporate functions.
Amazon has undergone multiple waves of organizational changes over the past three years as it recalibrates following the pandemic boom.
In 2022 and 2023, the company enacted two rounds of layoffs amid slowing e-commerce demand and rising operational costs. More modest reductions followed throughout 2024 and early 2025, including small cuts in the Communications and Sustainability divisions.
The latest restructuring appears to be tied, in part, to Amazon’s rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence across internal and customer facing operations.
A recent CNBC report cited an internal memo from CEO Andy Jassy, who told employees that as AI takes over more routine tasks, “fewer corporate roles will be required to support legacy workflows.”
“This would be the largest restructuring since the previous downturn,” said Laura McKinney, a technology workforce analyst at Beacon Strategy Group.
“Amazon has been signaling for over a year that automation and AI integration would shift staffing levels. The scale suggests a deeper, more structural realignment.”
Experts say the anticipated Amazon job cuts reflect a broader pattern across the tech sector, where automation advances are reshaping white collar roles once considered insulated from efficiency driven reductions.
“AI agents are now performing tasks that midlevel corporate staff used to handle, from scheduling and HR onboarding to internal reporting,” said Ryan Caldwell, a professor of digital transformation at Temple University.
Companies like Amazon see immediate cost savings by shrinking managerial and administrative layers. Still, Caldwell cautioned that layoffs of this magnitude could temporarily disrupt workflow continuity.
“Structural transitions create turbulence,” he said. “Even as AI improves efficiency, it can take months to fully integrate new systems into large organizations.”
Some labor advocates argue the shift could deepen inequality between tech workers in high skill AI engineering roles and those in administrative and support positions.
“This movement toward automation is accelerating faster than the labor market’s ability to absorb displaced workers,” said Carmen Ruiz, director of the nonprofit Workplace Futures Lab.
These Amazon job cuts will likely impact middle income professionals who may find it difficult to quickly transition into AI centric roles.
If completed, the potential elimination of up to 30,000 jobs would surpass any layoff event in Amazon’s history except for its 2022-2023 restructuring period.
That earlier reduction removed 27,000 jobs over several months as the company navigated a post pandemic slowdown and rising inflation.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, US tech companies have cut more than 80,000 positions in the first ten months of 2025, marking a 15 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.
Analysts say the shift is largely driven by investments in automation and efforts to trim management layers. “Tech layoffs are not isolated occurrences but part of a long term restructuring cycle,” McKinney said.
Amazon’s potential reduction is significant, but it’s consistent with trends seen at Meta, Google and other major firms. The company employs more than 1.5 million people globally, though the vast majority work in warehouses, logistics or retail operations rather than corporate roles.
While Amazon has not publicly confirmed the reported layoffs, news of the planned reductions has stirred anxiety among employees.
“It feels like everyone is waiting for their phone to ring,” said a Seattle based human resources specialist who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
We knew changes were coming, but the rumors about the size make it more stressful. In Arlington, Virginia, where Amazon’s HQ2 continues to expand, several workers expressed concern about how the restructuring might affect long term growth.
“Even if your team isn’t directly impacted, it creates uncertainty across the board,” said Melissa Grant, a project coordinator working in the devices division. “Most of us are proud of the work we do, but it’s tough to focus when you’re worried about being part of the next round.”
Local business owners who rely on corporate foot traffic also worry about possible ripple effects.
“When Amazon trims staff, the impact reaches coffee shops, restaurants, rideshares everyone who depends on office workers,” said Rafiq Ahmed, who runs a café near the Seattle headquarters. “We’ve seen it before.”
Analysts expect Amazon to accelerate its adoption of AI driven systems across departments, potentially reducing the size of some corporate teams while expanding roles in AI engineering, cloud computing and robotics.
“Amazon is transitioning from an era defined by headcount growth to one defined by efficiency growth,” Caldwell said. “This is part of a long arc, not a short term reaction.”
The company is also focusing heavily on improving margins in segments that historically carried higher operating costs, such as devices and logistics.
The reported reductions align with Amazon’s ongoing effort to simplify its organizational structure and scale back underperforming initiatives.
“Even if the reported number of Amazon job cuts is on the higher end, we’re likely seeing the beginning of a multi year transformation,” McKinney said.
While the reported plan for as many as 30,000 corporate layoffs has yet to be formally announced, the move would signal Amazon’s most substantial internal reshaping in more than two years.
Driven by new AI capabilities, shifting business priorities and long term efficiency efforts, the potential job reductions reflect broader changes across the tech sector.
Analysts expect continued restructuring as the company evaluates which roles remain essential in an increasingly automated corporate environment.