Summary
- Amazon will lay off 14,000 employees in the corporate sector to reduce bureaucracy and increase efficiency.
- Artificial intelligence is one of the reasons to maintain a leaner structure.
- Those laid off will have 90 days to look for new positions at the company, with priority in the selection process.
Amazon will reduce the number of workers in its corporate sector by approximately 14 thousand. This Tuesday (10/28), the company released a statement on the matter, confirming the changes.
The text — signed by senior vice president of people and technology, Beth Galetti — was initially sent to employees. The executive says that the decision aims to “reduce bureaucracy, remove layers and direct resources” to the company’s big bets.
Another reason for the cuts is artificial intelligence. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we have seen since the internet and is allowing companies to innovate at a much greater speed (in existing and new market segments). We are convinced that we need to organize ourselves in a leaner way”, writes Galetti in the text.
Wanted by TechnoblogAmazon did not inform the impact of the measure on its operations in Brazil.
Cuts were expected and should continue in 2026
The cut does not come as a surprise: on Monday (27/10), the Reuters and the Wall Street Journal published that Amazon intended to cut up to 30,000 corporate positions, according to internal sources.
This Tuesday’s announcement involves a smaller number of layoffs than expected, but the statement leaves open the possibility of more departures throughout 2026, aiming to “remove layers” and “increase efficiency”.
In any case, it is a significant amount for the company, which has around 355,000 administrative employees around the world. In total, Amazon’s workforce is made up of 1.55 million people. Today’s reduction does not affect warehouse and logistics workers, for example.
This is Amazon’s largest mass layoff in recent years. Between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, around 27 thousand people left the company in various layoffs.
O Guardian points out that this is yet another reversal of the large number of hires made by big techs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the end of the health crisis, Microsoft, Meta and Google have laid off hundreds of thousands of workers.
Fired employees may be reassigned to new vacancies
The reduction of 14 thousand people will include the opening of new vacancies. According to Amazon, fired candidates will have 90 days to try to find a new position within the company itself, with priority in the selection process.
Those who are unable to be relocated or prefer to leave the company will receive compensation for contract termination, market relocation services and health benefits.
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/amazon-confirma-planos-de-demitir-14-mil-funcionarios/
