Amazon to Lay Off 30,000 Corporate Employees — Biggest Job Cut Since 2022?

New York / Seattle:
In a major global workforce restructuring move, Amazon is reportedly preparing to lay off nearly 30,000 corporate employees, marking its largest job cut since 2022. The process is expected to begin from October 28, according to internal company sources.

The decision comes as part of Amazon’s ongoing efforts to control costs and rebalance its workforce after massive hiring during the pandemic, when online demand had surged globally.

Although the number seems significant, it represents less than 10% of Amazon’s 3.5 lakh (350,000) corporate employees — a fraction of its over one million total global workforce.

The layoffs are likely to impact several departments, including Human Resources, Technology, Operations, Devices, Services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Reports suggest that managers have already been trained on how to communicate the layoffs to employees, with official notification emails expected to begin on Tuesday.

Amazon had previously carried out a major layoff in 2022, affecting 27,000 employees — its biggest job reduction until now. Since then, the company has implemented smaller job cuts across multiple divisions such as devices, communications, and podcasting.

According to reports, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is personally leading the new downsizing initiative. Jassy had earlier hinted that increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could lead to workforce reduction. He also launched an internal “complaint line” to identify inefficiencies — which received over 1,500 responses and led to more than 450 procedural changes.

Industry experts say the current move reflects how AI-driven automation and cost optimization are reshaping even the biggest players in the tech sector.