Amazon sacks 16,000 workers

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.

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.

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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