Amazon on Wednesday announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring programme earlier outlined in October, when the e-commerce giant had already signalled its intention to reduce its workforce by 14,000 positions.
The company said the latest round of job cuts was aimed at “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” according to a statement by Amazon’s Senior Vice President, Beth Galetti.
Media reports in October had estimated that the combined job cuts—totalling about 30,000—would affect nearly 10 per cent of Amazon’s approximately 350,000 corporate and office employees. The reports indicated that distribution and warehouse workers, who constitute the bulk of Amazon’s global workforce of about 1.5 million employees, would not be affected.
At the time, Amazon declined to comment on the reports, which suggested that the planned workforce reduction was linked to increased investments in artificial intelligence.
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In its latest announcement, the company did not provide a detailed breakdown of the job cuts, stating only that “every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate.”
Amazon is scheduled to release its full-year 2025 financial results on February 6, followed by a conference call that will be broadcast live.