SEATTLE, Jan 28 — Amazon has said on Wednesday that it is cutting 16,000 jobs worldwide in the second major round of layoffs at the company in three months, as it restructures after pandemic-era over-hiring and expands the adoption of artificial intelligence tools.
Reuters first reported last week that the multinational technology company was planning a second round of job cuts as part of a broader goal to trim about 30,000 corporate roles, with the layoffs expected to affect workers in Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and human resources.
It slashed 14,000 white-collar jobs in late October, with chief executive officer Andy Jassy stressing the need for the company to eliminate excessive bureaucracy by trimming operational levels and reducing the number of managers.
"Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm, where we announce broad reductions every few months. That is not our plan," said Amazon's people experience and technology senior vice president Beth Galetti.
Rising AI adoption
The job cuts also underscore how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing corporate workforce dynamics. Significant improvements in AI assistants are helping enterprises execute routine administrative tasks and complex coding problems with greater speed and precision, driving widespread adoption.
Last summer, Jassy had said that the increased use of AI tools would lead to more automation of duties, resulting in corporate job losses.
Earlier this month, top executives at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting said that while jobs would disappear, new ones would spring up, with two telling Reuters that AI would be used as an excuse by companies planning to cut jobs anyway.
The 30,000 jobs would together represent a small portion of Amazon's 1.58 million employees, but nearly 10 per cent of its corporate workforce. The majority of Amazon's workers are in fulfilment centres and warehouses.
Tech giants, including Amazon, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, had sharply ramped up hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic surge in demand and have lately been restructuring their workforces.
Amazon has also been investing in robotics at its warehouses to speed up packaging and deliveries for its e-commerce segment, reduce the reliance on human labour, and cut costs.
The company is set to report quarterly results next week.
