Amazon made an announcement on January 28, 2026, regarding the company’s decision to eliminate 16,000 jobs globally, which is the second major round of layoffs within a span of three months. The decision is a result of the company’s efforts to turn around its hiring trends during the COVID-19 pandemic and shift its focus to artificial intelligence (AI).
The latest layoffs come after a previous round of layoffs in late October 2025, when the company decided to eliminate 14,000 jobs in its corporate sector. The latest layoffs bring the total number of corporate job cuts to 30,000, which is a substantial number of the company’s white-collar workforce.
Why Amazon Is Cutting Jobs
Amazon’s management has cited several reasons for the layoffs:
Post-Pandemic Workforce Rebalancing: During the pandemic, Amazon significantly increased its workforce to keep up with the exploding demand in e-commerce, cloud computing (AWS), and online services. However, as the growth rate normalizes, Amazon is now trying to align its workforce with this new reality.
AI and Automation: The increasing use of AI software is changing the nature of work. Amazon’s management has explained that the increasing power of AI is automating more and more tasks, from simple administrative work to complex technical work, making it less necessary to maintain a large corporate workforce.
Operational Efficiency: Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy and SVP Beth Galetti have emphasized the need to make Amazon more agile and competitive by eliminating bureaucracy, simplifying decision-making, and flattening the organization.
Which Areas Are Impacted
The layoffs affect several divisions within Amazon’s corporate organization, including those that work for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Prime Video, retail, human resources, and other business divisions. Although the layoffs are substantial, they are still a small percentage of Amazon’s overall global workforce of 1.58 million employees, but about 10% of its corporate workforce.
Industry Context: A Wider Trend
Amazon is not the only one. Other big tech firms like Meta and Microsoft have also cut down their workforce as they try to manage costs while making strategic investments in AI and automation, after a period of rapid hiring during the pandemic boom.
Industry observers point out that this is a wider trend in the tech industry, where firms are readjusting their workforce strategies and structures to align with new technology paradigms and economic realities.
Looking Ahead
Despite the layoffs, Amazon is still investing in key areas, including AI, robotics, and cloud infrastructure. The company is also set to optimize its operations in its brick-and-mortar business, including the shutting down of some Fresh and Go store formats, which further emphasizes its shift to automation and technology.
As Amazon readies its workforce for the future, this development further highlights the impact of AI and market forces on the future of employment in the tech industry.