Amazon is set to begin what is thought to be the largest single high-profile layoff round since the massive cutbacks that hit the company towards the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, with pink slips slated to start going out on Tuesday.
The online retail and cloud computing behemoth targets a cut of as much as 30,000 corporate jobs in a bid to right-size operations and reverse what has proven to be catastrophic over hiring during the pandemic surge.
This new round of job cuts will be predominantly limited to the white-collar and technical resources of the organization, representing almost 10% of what is probably 350,000 global corporate employees, comprising a fundamental strategic shift to fiscal discipline and efficiency across the organization.
Cost Reduction Strategy
The cut of reported jobs, numbering around 30,000, is in favor of an aggressive push that should take Amazon for cost-cutting and operational efficiency after the pandemic high-growth phase.
Amazon mirrors a wider trend across the tech industry on the one hand, while other companies are retracting their employees from the labor force and reviewing their long-term spending in pursuit of profit.
Sources indicate that the first layoffs notifications will be sent out as early as Tuesday morning through email, a method reliable with the company’s previous large-scale reorganization announcements.
Automation and AI Impact
The department’s divisions that may face big impacts include People Experience and Technology (Human Resources), Devices and Services (responsible mostly for products like Alexa), and, of course, Operations.
The long-term outlook for job roles is determined by the accelerated evolution of automation and AI, with CEO Andy Jassy previously stating that as it becomes more efficient, AI is likely to reduce overall corporate headcount.
For this huge hired corporate reduction higher than the estimated 27,000 post-2022-2023 restructured roles clearly marks a permanent transition in Amazon’s management of its colossal global staff (.5 million employees, to be exact), with eyes set upon a sleeker and more tech-savvy future.
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