In a major move that highlights big changes in the tech world, Amazon announced it will cut 16,000 corporate jobs as part of a larger plan to streamline the company and expand its use of artificial intelligence (AI). The job cuts are one of the largest in Amazon’s history and show how companies are reshaping their workforces to focus on automation and efficiency.
The job reductions were confirmed on January 28, 2026, and come after Amazon already cut 14,000 jobs in October 2025. When combined, these layoffs bring the total to about 30,000 corporate roles eliminated since last fall, nearly 10 percent of Amazon’s corporate staff. Most of Amazon’s roughly 1.58 million employees work in warehouses and delivery, but the latest cuts hit office and tech teams across the company.
Amazon says the layoffs are part of a plan by CEO Andy Jassy to reduce bureaucracy, remove underperforming units and make the company more agile. Beth Galetti, Amazon’s top human resources executive, said the goal is to cut “layers” and give employees more ownership over their work, while also focusing on areas that drive the most growth.
At the same time, Amazon is closing its remaining Amazon Fresh grocery stores, shutting Go markets (its cashier-less convenience stores), and dropping the Amazon One palm-scan payment system, all moves that affect jobs tied to those projects.
The layoffs reflect a larger trend in the tech industry, where major companies like Microsoft, Meta (Facebook’s parent) and others have also cut workers after rapid hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many tech firms expanded staff when online demand soared, but now are trimming roles as growth slows and technology like AI takes on more tasks.
A leaked internal email with a project name thought to refer to the layoffs, “Project Dawn,” mistakenly went out to some Amazon Web Services (AWS) employees, causing confusion and anxiety among staff. Departments affected include AWS, Alexa voice assistant teams, Prime Video, advertising, Kindle, and supply chain roles.
AI plays a big role in Amazon’s strategy. Company leaders say that as AI tools improve, tasks from scheduling and customer service to coding and data analysis can be automated more often, reducing the need for some jobs but potentially creating others. However, analysts caution that while AI may help productivity, it can also drive more job cuts if companies use automation to replace human workers.
Amazon’s share price also reacted to the news, sliding about 2 percent in trading after the announcement, showing how the market is watching the tech giant’s reshaping closely.
