Amazon to lay off around 16,000 corporate employees

Amazon has confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts, completing a total of around 30,000 since October. This move, initiated by CEO Andy Jassy, aims to reduce bureaucracy and eliminate underperforming divisions.

The company is closing its Fresh grocery stores and Go markets while discontinuing the Amazon One biometric payment system. Although 30,000 cuts is a small percentage of Amazon's 1.58 million employees, it represents nearly 10% of its corporate workforce, marking the largest layoffs in its history.

In Slack messages, AWS employees who received the email said the Wednesday meeting was promptly canceled. Amazon referred in the email to the layoffs as "Project Dawn."

Amazon acknowledged overhiring during the pandemic and noted that "some teams will continue to 'make adjustments as appropriate.'" Recent changes reflect the growing impact of artificial intelligence on corporate jobs.

Shares in Amazon saw a slight increase before the quarterly results report next week.