Amazon set to axe up to 30,000 corporate jobs

Amazon plans to cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs starting this week, a round of layoffs that an analyst described as dramatic in scale and a ‘deep cleaning’ of the company’s workforce.

The job cuts will affect nearly 10 per cent of Amazon’s approximately 350,000 corporate staff. Including non-corporate roles, the company has about 1.55 million employees.

Reuters cited people with knowledge of the matter saying the layoffs aim to cut expenses and compensate for overhiring during the pandemic’s peak demand. An Amazon spokesperson declined the news agency’s request for comment.

The cuts may affect a variety of divisions, including human resources, operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services, the sources said. They added that the number could change over time as the company’s financial priorities shift.

The layoffs would mark Amazon’s largest job cut since late 2022, which affected approximately 27,000 roles.

“The Amazon layoffs are dramatic in scale, and they represent a deep cleaning of Amazon’s corporate workforce,” said GlobalData MD Neil Saunders.

“They are the latest in a long line of efficiency drives which has seen Amazon focus its efforts more sharply in terms of its corporate divisions. 

“While Amazon could never be described as a flabby organisation, it has become more complex and layered over time and there is scope for some simplification,” he continued.

Saunders noted that Amazon’s layoffs are different from Target’s, as the former is operating from a position of strength, with positive growth and headroom for further expansion.

That said, the company is not immune to tightening markets and rising underlying costs, and it needs to take certain actions to ensure a good bottom-line performance, according to the analyst.

“This is especially so given the amount of investment the company is making in areas like logistics and AI. In some ways, this is a tipping point away from human capital to technological infrastructure,” he said.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in June that the increased use of AI tools would likely reduce the company’s corporate workforce in the next few years, particularly through automating repetitive and routine tasks.

Earlier this month, the company announced its plans to hire 250,000 temporary staff across its fulfilment and transportation networks in the US to prepare for the upcoming holiday season. 

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