AI Takes Over Amazon: Layoffs Spark Panic, Bosses Sweat, and Nobody Feels Safe!

Amazon has confirmed another wave of layoffs in its Amazon Web Services division, impacting at least several hundred employees across multiple teams. The cuts, which became widely known after staff received termination notices and lost system access, touched frontline support, training and certification, and the specialist group expected to liaise between customers and internal product units. Although Amazon did not disclose the exact number of job losses, internal messaging channels and emails point to a significant reduction in headcount, particularly among roles that help customers with new product ideas and manage application technologies for stores.

Company officials framed the restructuring as part of a broader strategic review aimed at streamlining operations and reallocating resources toward higher-priority growth areas. This comes at a time when CEO Andy Jassy has openly predicted that generative AI and automation will reshape the corporate workforce, reducing the need for traditional roles even as investment in artificial intelligence ramps up. Despite these statements, Amazon insisted the layoffs within AWS were not solely driven by AI, but rather resulted from shifting strategic priorities and a need to improve efficiency in an increasingly competitive industry.

Affected employees in the U.S. will receive at least 60 days of pay and benefits, along with continued health coverage, eligibility for severance, and placement assistance. Amazon is also attempting to find new internal roles for laid-off staff where possible.

This latest round of AWS job cuts follows a series of ongoing layoffs that have swept through other Amazon divisions since late 2022, including reductions in books, devices, and content units, as well as the elimination of managerial positions to cut excess bureaucracy. Across the wider tech sector, Amazon joins peers like Microsoft, Meta, and Intel in a broad move to restructure workforces as companies adapt to cloud growth, slowing sales, and the integration of AI agents for routine tasks.

With AWS remaining Amazon’s most profitable business unit but experiencing a slowdown in revenue growth, the company is under pressure to balance ongoing innovation with tighter operational discipline. For now, Amazon continues to hire in select strategic areas even as it signals more tough decisions lie ahead for traditional roles within the company.