Amazon to cut 14,000 corporate jobs; internet fumes

New Delhi: E-commerce and cloud major Amazon has confirmed plans to cut nearly 14,000 corporate jobs across the world, impacting roles across finance, marketing, human resources, and technology departments, according to sources.

In some cities, entire teams, including their managers, reportedly received layoff emails simultaneously.

These layoffs come months after Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy cautioned that artificial intelligence (AI) would likely reduce Amazon’s workforce. In an earlier post, Jassy hinted that the company’s headcount would shrink as AI increasingly handled tasks previously done by humans. The job cuts represent roughly 4% of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate and tech employees.

On October 28, affected staff received termination notices via email from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources.

Several posts on X reported that employees have been devastated by the emails, just after their Diwali vacation.

Entire team layoffs:

Reports surfaced of entire teams being laid off simultaneously.

A user on X shared: “My friend at Amazon told me how she saw an entire team, including their manager, get laid off within seconds. Watching them leave the office was heartbreaking. These layoffs are massive—whole departments wiped out. The testing teams for Q3 and Q4 were the first to go. Laptops were collected on the spot, and that was it.”

Another user wrote about a friend’s shocking experience: “My friend, who worked at Amazon, was returning to Bengaluru after Diwali. As soon as he landed and switched on his phone, he found a layoff email from Amazon.”

What does the email say?

The email stated: “I have some important, but difficult, news to share with you. After a thorough review of our organization, our priorities, and what we need to focus on going forward, we’ve made the hard business decision to eliminate some roles across Amazon. Unfortunately, your role is being eliminated, and your employment will end after a non-working period. We didn’t make these decisions lightly and remain committed to supporting you through this transition, including full pay and benefits during the non-working period, severance pay, transitional benefits depending on the country, and access to skill training and external job placement support.”

Employees were informed that their badge access was immediately disabled, and security would escort them if required. Impacted workers will receive 90 days of full pay and benefits, severance packages, and job placement assistance.

s internal "A to Z" app, which contains frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding salary, benefits, severance, and other key topics. The internal email claims that badge access has been restricted for those who are currently on-site.

AI generation impact:

In Amazon’s statement, Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, described AI as “the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet.”

“AI enables companies to innovate much faster than ever before. We believe we must operate more efficiently—with fewer layers and greater ownership—to move quickly for our customers and business,” Galetti said.

Amazon added that it is actively helping affected employees, offering most 90 days to seek new internal roles. “Our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many as possible find new positions within Amazon. For those who can’t or choose not to, we’re offering transition support such as severance pay, outplacement services, and health insurance benefits,” Galetti wrote in a blog post.

It’s worth noting that Amazon had previously laid off more than 500 employees in India in 2023 as part of a global downsizing that impacted 9,000 workers worldwide.

Also, Companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and Salesforce have fired thousands of employees in one week of October alone.