• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

Amazon is set to eliminate about 30,000 corporate positions — roughly 10% of its 350,000 white-collar employees — in the largest layoff in its history.

Reuters, which first reported the cuts, attributed them to overhiring during the pandemic and to recent advances in automation. While the layoffs won’t dent Amazon’s total headcount of 1.55 million, they signal a sharper squeeze on corporate overhead. The company previously cut 27,000 jobs in 2022.

CNBC reports the reductions will touch “almost every business,” citing a source close to the company. Amazon is expected to notify affected employees via email Tuesday morning. Reuters says managers spent Monday being coached on how to deliver the news.

The move aligns with CEO Andy Jassy’s ongoing campaign to streamline bureaucracy. Earlier this year, he introduced an anonymous hotline for efficiency complaints, saying it drew 1,500 responses and led to changes in more than 450 processes. In June, Jassy warned employees that Amazon’s rapid adoption of generative AI could eventually displace some roles.

“This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realizing enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force,” said Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst, in comments to Reuters. “Amazon has also been under pressure in the short term to offset long-term investments in building out its AI infrastructure.”

Retail analyst Neil Saunders of GlobalData added: “The Amazon layoffs are dramatic in scale, and they represent a deep cleaning of Amazon’s corporate workforce. While Amazon could never be described as a flabby organization, it has become more complex and layered over time — and there is scope for some simplification.”

Amazon’s cuts follow a wave of tech layoffs this year, including Intel (22,000), Microsoft (15,000), Salesforce (4,000), and additional reductions at Meta and Google.