Amazon is preparing to initiate a second significant round of corporate job cuts, expected to begin as early as next week.
The company aims to reduce its corporate workforce by approximately 30,000 employees, with the upcoming layoffs anticipated to be similar in scale to the 14,000 white-collar jobs eliminated in October 2025.
The affected roles will span several major divisions, including Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and human resources. Most of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees work in warehouses and fulfilment centres, but these cuts will primarily impact corporate staff.
According to The Indian Express, the total number of jobs cut in this round is expected to be roughly the same as the previous year, and the process could start as soon as Tuesday.
The October layoffs were linked to the rise of artificial intelligence, with Amazon stating that AI was enabling faster innovation and reducing the need for certain roles. However, the company’s leadership later clarified that the reductions were not solely driven by financial or AI considerations.
As reported by Hindustan Times, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explained that the primary motivation for the layoffs was to address internal bureaucracy and streamline management layers. Jassy stated that the company had accumulated excessive layers and personnel, leading to inefficiencies. The restructuring is expected to impact nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, which numbers around 350,000 employees globally.
As highlighted by Financial Express, the upcoming layoffs will affect several key divisions, including Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and the People Experience and Technology unit. The full scope of the layoffs remains uncertain, as plans could change before implementation. Employees affected by the October 2025 cuts were allowed to remain on the payroll for 90 days, during which they could apply for other roles within Amazon or seek external employment. That transition period is set to expire just before the new round of layoffs begins.
“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” Andy Jassy said during Amazon’s third-quarter earnings call, addressing the rationale behind the restructuring.
Further details indicate that the October 2025 layoffs were initially tied to the adoption of artificial intelligence, with Amazon highlighting the transformative impact of AI on business operations. However, subsequent statements from leadership emphasised that the decision was more about organisational culture and efficiency than technology or financial pressures.
The transition process for affected employees included a 90-day period on payroll, allowing time to seek new roles. This approach is consistent with previous large-scale layoffs at Amazon, such as the reduction of 27,000 jobs between late 2022 and early 2023, which was one of the largest in the company’s history.
Amazon’s total planned reduction of 30,000 corporate jobs represents the largest layoff in its three-decade history as coverage revealed. The company has not issued an official comment on the upcoming layoffs, and the precise number of roles to be eliminated in this round may still be adjusted before the process begins.
“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before,” Amazon stated in an internal letter during the previous round of layoffs.
While the majority of Amazon’s global workforce is employed in fulfilment and warehouse roles, the current and upcoming layoffs are focused on corporate positions. The company’s leadership has indicated that these changes are part of a broader effort to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary layers within the organisation as analysis showed.
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.