Amazon prepares for major layoffs among office workers

Amazon is planning major job cuts among its corporate workers as soon as this week, multiple media outlets have reported.

The online retail giant plans to lay off as many as 30,000 employees as part of cost-cutting measures led by chief executive Andy Jassy, according to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Each cited sources stating the same number of layoffs.

Amazon declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

If confirmed, the layoffs could be one of the largest seen in recent months. It would be Amazon’s biggest cuts since 2022, when the company let go of around 27,000 workers over several months.

Amazon’s layoff plans were also reported by CNBC and the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter. The reports did not say where in the world job cuts will be made.

The number of potential layoffs would be around 10% of the company’s corporate headcount, but still a small fraction of Amazon’s total workforce, which has more than 1.5 million employees across its warehouses and offices worldwide.

The company has around 350,000 corporate workers, which include those in executive, managerial and sales roles, according to figures that Amazon submitted to the US government last year.

Like many technology firms, Amazon hired aggressively during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet the surge in demand for online deliveries and digital services.

Amazon boss Mr Jassy has since focused on reducing spending as the company invests heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) tools to boost efficiency.

Mr Jassy said in June that the increase in AI tools will likely lead to job cuts as machines take over routine tasks.

“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” he said then.