Amazon, the largest online shopping site, wants to fire tens of thousands of employees. Layoffs are starting fast
Amazon Center on August 12, 2025 in Union City, Georgia, USA. PHOTO: Elijah Nouvelage / Getty images / Profimedia
Amazon, the world's largest online grocer by market share, plans to lay off up to 30,000 jobs starting on Tuesday as the company tries to cut costs and offset excessive hiring at the height of the pandemic, three people familiar with the matter said, according to Reuters.
The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon's total of 1.55 million employees, but nearly 10 percent of the company's approximately 350,000 corporate employees. That would be the biggest job cut at Amazon since it cut about 27,000 jobs starting in late 2022.
An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.
Amazon has cut a smaller number of jobs over the past two years in several divisions, including devices, communications, podcasting and others. The cuts, which begin this week, may affect a number of divisions within Amazon, including human resources, known as People Experience and Technology, but services and operations, the people said.
Managers of the affected teams were asked to attend a training course on Monday on how to communicate with staff after the notices, which will begin to be sent by email on Tuesday morning, the sources said.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is undertaking an initiative to reduce what he described as red tape at the company, including cutting the number of managers. He set up an anonymous complaint line to identify inefficiencies, which generated about 1,500 responses and more than 450 process changes, he said earlier this year.
Jassy said in June that the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools would likely lead to further job cuts, particularly through the automation of repetitive and routine tasks.
The full extent of this round of job cuts was not immediately clear. People familiar with the situation also said the number could change over time as Amazon's financial priorities change. Fortune magazine previously reported that the human resources division could be targeted for a cut of around 15%.
Amazon shares rose 1.2 percent to $226.80 a share on Monday afternoon. The company plans to report third-quarter earnings on Thursday.
