Amazon To Lay Off 16,000 Corporate Employees

“Amazon said it would cut around 16,000 corporate employees, the latest step in the technology giant's efforts to slim down its workforce.

 

The first round of cuts in October led to around 14,000 white-collar employees receiving pink slips. At the time, people familiar with Amazon's plans said the company was targeting around 30,000 job cuts, around 10% of the corporate workforce.

 

"As I shared in October, we've been working to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy," Beth Galetti, the company's senior vice president of people experience and technology, wrote in a blog post announcing the cuts on Wednesday. "While many teams finalized their organizational changes in October, other teams did not complete that work until now."

 

The layoffs come as job growth in the U.S. enters one of its slowest patches in years. Economic concerns and trade disputes have led many corporate chiefs to say they are postponing hiring decisions. Advancements in artificial intelligence have also led companies to try to do more with fewer workers.

 

Pinterest recently said it was laying off nearly 15% of its workforce as part of a plan to focus more resources on AI-related roles.

 

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy has portrayed the cuts, which have hit across business divisions, as an attempt to reinvigorate the company's culture rather than to realize cost savings.

 

On Tuesday, Amazon said it was shutting its Fresh and Go grocery stores, after deciding to focus its efforts on expanding Whole Foods Market stores and same-day deliveries of fresh food from warehouses. As a result, the company is laying off employees who helped run the Fresh and Go businesses, according to an internal memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

 

The nation's second-largest private employer went on a hiring spree during the pandemic, when a housebound population took more of its shopping online. Amazon hired around 100,000 workers in a short period in response to the increased demand.

 

The surge in hiring led to bloat in the organization, Jassy has said. "As a leadership team, we are committed to operating like the world's largest startup. And that means removing layers," he said in October.

 

But Jassy has also made squeezing more productivity out of Amazon's business a pillar of his tenure as CEO. 

 

The executive has scrutinized unprofitable projects and warned that AI would lead to the company having a smaller workforce in the future.” [1]

 

1. Amazon To Lay Off 16,000 Corporate Employees. McLain, Sean; Vipers, Gareth.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 29 Jan 2026: B1.