Amazon

Amazon has announced the dismissal of 16,000 corporate employees across the world.

Amazon, in a statement on Wednesday, said it will offer United States-based employees 90 days to search for a new role internally, as well as severance and other transition support.

“We’ve been working to strengthen our organisation by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” the senior vice-president of people experience and technology at Amazon, Beth Galetti, said.

Advertisement

The 16,000 corporate job cuts completed a plan ​for about 30,000 since October 2025, while leaving open the possibility of further reductions.

Although 30,000 represents a ‌small portion of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees, who are mostly in fulfilment centres and warehouses, it is nearly 10% of its corporate workforce, according to Reuters.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has repeatedly said he’s determined to cut management layers and ease bureaucracy that began to concern executives after a pandemic-era hiring binge.

Lagos govt partners MTN to build bus park at Obalende Bridge

In 2025, Jassy also warned employees that AI will shrink the workforce as Amazon automates more of its operations.

Tech giants, including Amazon, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, had sharply ramped up hiring during the ‍COVID-19 pandemic demand surge and have lately been restructuring their workforce.

The company began the cuts on Tuesday by announcing it planned to close all remaining brick-and-mortar Fresh grocery stores and Go markets, a further retreat from its physical store strategy.

The company has been investing in robotics at ​its warehouses to speed up packaging and deliveries for its e-commerce ‍segment, reduce the reliance on human labour, and cutting costs.

The Star

Advertisement