Amazon, America’s e-commerce company has announced it is cutting about 16,000 corporate jobs, saying it plans to shore up it workforce with artificial intelligence.
The development is the company’s second round of mass layoffs in three months, after it massively added workforce during the pandemic.
Announcing the job cut on Wednesday, Amazon’s senior vice president Beth Galetti, said in a blog post that the company has been “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.”
The latest reductions follow a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon said it was laying off 14,000 workers. While some Amazon units completed those “organizational changes” in October, others did not finish until now, Galetti said.
She said U.S.-based staff would be given 90 days to look for a new role internally. Those who are unsuccessful or don’t want a new job will be offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits, she said.
“While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future,” Galetti said.
The layoffs is the biggest since 2023, when the company cut 27,000 job, and is significantly influenced by the increased use of AI.
