Amazon is set to begin reducing its workforce by up to 30,000 corporate positions starting Tuesday. This decision comes as the company seeks to cut costs and address overhiring during the pandemic’s peak demand. The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon’s 1.55 million total employees, but nearly 10% of its roughly 350,000 corporate employees.
This would mark Amazon’s largest job cut since late 2022, when it began eliminating around 27,000 positions. Over the past two years, Amazon has been gradually reducing jobs across various divisions, including devices, communications, and podcasting.
The upcoming layoffs are expected to affect several departments, such as human resources, operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services. Managers of affected teams were instructed to prepare for communicating with staff after email notifications are sent out on Tuesday morning.
CEO Andy Jassy has initiated efforts to streamline operations by reducing bureaucracy and consolidating managerial roles. He introduced an anonymous complaint line that received about 1,500 responses and led to over 450 process changes earlier this year.
Jassy mentioned in June that increased use of artificial intelligence tools might result in further job reductions by automating routine tasks. The full extent of these job cuts remains uncertain as numbers may change with shifting financial priorities.
Fortune previously reported that the human resources division could face a cut of approximately 15%. Additionally, a program requiring employees to return to the office five days per week has not resulted in sufficient attrition.
