Amazon Cuts 14,000 Jobs: AI Pivot Begins 🚀

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Inside Amazon’s 14,000 Job Cuts

Amazon is making one of its largest corporate shake-ups in recent years, cutting around 14,000 white-collar jobs as it doubles down on artificial intelligence and automation. The move affects roughly 4-5% of its global corporate workforce and marks a decisive shift in how the company is prioritising efficiency and long-term growth.

Internal sources suggest the total could climb as high as 30,000 jobs once the broader restructuring is complete—though Amazon has not confirmed any number beyond the initial 14,000. The cuts follow months of internal cost reviews and mirror similar moves by major tech peers adapting to the AI era.

CEO Andy Jassy told employees the company is “reducing layers, eliminating inefficiencies, and redirecting resources toward high-impact areas,” with significant investment flowing into its AI, automation, and cloud divisions. Key departments affected include operations, HR, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Despite the layoffs, Amazon is simultaneously hiring 250,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday surge, signalling that the cuts target corporate roles rather than its logistics and delivery network.

For the global trade and supply chain community, Amazon’s restructuring highlights an emerging trend: AI-driven realignment of human capital. The company’s logistics arm continues to expand its automation footprint, from robotic fulfilment centres to predictive delivery systems, indicating that productivity—not headcount—is becoming the key performance metric.

As the world’s largest online retailer streamlines its operations, partners and SMEs in the ecosystem should expect shifts in procurement processes, tech integrations, and service models designed around faster, data-powered decision-making. Watch Clip

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