Amazon Announces 14,000 Corporate Job Cuts in 2025 to Fund Over $100 Billion AI Investment

Amazon is initiating a significant corporate restructuring in 2025, reflecting a major global pivot toward advanced technological capabilities. The company has publicly disclosed plans to eliminate approximately 14,000 full-time positions worldwide. This substantial workforce reduction is a calculated strategic maneuver designed to free up capital for massive investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, which are projected to exceed $100 billion within the year. This large-scale reallocation of resources is intended to solidify Amazon’s competitive standing in the future technology landscape.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, explained that these personnel adjustments are necessary to streamline operational structures and eliminate excessive bureaucracy. The overarching goal is to maximize the speed of response to both customer demands and core business needs. This decision follows earlier discussions led by CEO Andy Jassy, who has steered the company since 2021. Jassy previously signaled a focus on cost optimization and acknowledged that AI could potentially absorb several existing job functions. The impending layoffs will impact various departments, including Human Resources, operations, device and service development teams, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

According to internal sources, the total number of potential dismissals could ultimately reach 30,000 individuals, marking what would be the largest round of cuts since the end of 2022, when the company last conducted significant reductions. At the close of last year, Amazon employed roughly 1.56 million people globally, with the corporate staff comprising approximately 350,000 employees. Consequently, the 14,000 announced layoffs represent about four percent of the total office workforce. The company is actively seeking to correct for the over-hiring that occurred during the peak demand period driven by the global pandemic.

This strategic shift underscores Amazon’s conviction that generative AI represents the most transformative technology since the advent of the internet. Analysts anticipate considerable savings resulting from automation. Experts, such as those from Wolfe Research, suggest that avoiding the hiring of additional fulfillment center employees through increased automation could save the company more than $2 billion annually. Simultaneously, Tye Brady, Chief Technologist for Amazon Robotics, emphasizes that the new technology will operate in tandem with human workers, opening up novel avenues for human endeavor rather than simply replacing them entirely.

At the time of the announcement, Amazon shares (AMZN) were trading at $226.97 USD. The stock registered a marginal increase of $2.78, equating to a 0.01% gain from the previous closing price, as of 04:45:05 PDT on Tuesday, October 28. The financial market generally interpreted this aggressive maneuver as a necessary step to ensure Amazon’s long-term sustainability and dominance, particularly within cloud services and cutting-edge AI solutions.