Amazon's latest round of layoffs could see 16,000 employees lose their jobs as early as next week

Amazon is reportedly preparing to cut approximately 16,000 corporate roles as early as next week. This move is part of a wider restructuring plan aimed at reducing management layers and shifting the tech giant’s focus towards artificial intelligence.

The expected job cuts follow an earlier round in October of 2025, where the company eliminated roughly 14,000 white-collar positions. According to reports from Business Insider and Reuters, these upcoming layoffs will bring the total number of corporate job losses to approximately 30,000 over the current cycle.

While the 30,000 cuts represent nearly 10% of Amazon’s corporate workforce, they make up a small fraction of its 1.5 million total employees.

According to reports, these new layoffs show that Amazon is trying to simplify how it works. In October, the company said these cuts were happening because of AI and automation.

However, CEO Andy Jassy later clarified that the cut offs are not related to cost cutting or AI taking jobs. Instead, he explained that the decision is about "cultural fit" and making sure roles match the company's new expectations and way of working. 

“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” Jassy said during Amazon’s third-quarter earnings call.

As per Reuters, Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video and human resources, known as 'People Experience and Technology' within Amazon, are all departments where jobs cuts are expected, though the full scope of the layoffs was unclear. An Amazon spokesperson refused to comment on the matter.

This 30,000 employee layoff would the largest in Amazon's 30 year history. With the previous largest one being in 2022, where Amazon cut off 27,000 employees. 

Affected workers in October were told they would keep getting their salaries for a period of 90 days, during which time they could apply for jobs within Amazon itself or seek other employment. That period expires on January 26.