Amazon Trims 14,000 Jobs to Power Up AI Revolution

Amazon, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has announced that it will be cutting approximately 14,000 jobs from its global corporate workforce. The company says these layoffs are part of a plan to become more efficient and to take advantage of new opportunities created by artificial intelligence, or AI. Amazon’s leaders believe that by reorganizing and reducing the number of employees, they can invest more in the areas that matter most to their customers and the future of the business.

Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, explained that the company is performing well financially, with sales increasing by 13 percent compared to last year. In the second quarter, Amazon’s sales reached $167. 7 billion, which was better than what Wall Street expected. Despite this success, Galetti said that the company needs to change because AI is transforming the way businesses operate. She described AI as the most important technology since the Internet, allowing companies to innovate and move faster than ever before. Amazon wants to be organized with fewer layers of management and more responsibility for each employee, so it can respond quickly to customer needs and business challenges.

Amazon has more than 1. 5 million employees worldwide, including about 350,000 corporate workers in executive, managerial, and sales roles. Many of these workers were hired during the Covid-19 pandemic, when demand for online shopping and digital services increased sharply. Now, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy is focusing on reducing costs and investing in AI tools to make the company more efficient. Jassy has said that as machines take over routine tasks, some jobs will disappear, but new types of jobs will be created. Amazon is working to support employees whose roles are affected by the layoffs, helping them find new positions within the company or providing severance pay and other transition support if they cannot.

This is not the first time Amazon has made significant job cuts. In 2022, the company laid off around 27,000 workers over several months. Some investors and analysts are concerned about the impact of these changes, especially as Amazon faces competition from other tech giants like Microsoft and Google in its cloud business, Amazon Web Services. Growth in this area has slowed compared to its rivals, raising questions about whether Amazon’s investments in AI will pay off. Technology experts say that job losses are likely as AI tools become more capable, but companies will also need to restructure and create new roles. Amazon is expected to report its latest financial results soon, and the industry will be watching closely to see how the company adapts to these changes.