Amazon Lays Off 16,000 Employees as Restructuring Continues

Amazon announced today that it is cutting 16,000 roles companywide, marking another major round of layoffs just months after eliminating 14,000 jobs in October.

In a message to staff, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the latest reductions are part of an effort focused on “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” She explained that the second large-scale workforce reduction in less than three months stems from the fact that some teams had not yet completed their internal restructuring during the earlier round.

Galetti acknowledged employee concerns about whether frequent layoffs could become routine but said the company does not intend to establish a pattern of broad job cuts every few months.

“Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm — where we announce broad reductions every few months,” she wrote in a blog post. “That’s not our plan. But as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate.”

As of October, Amazon reported a workforce of approximately 1.57 million employees in its third-quarter 2025 regulatory filings. The company noted that headcount growth had remained in the single digits for five consecutive quarters before those disclosures. Amazon is scheduled to release its Q4 2025 earnings results next week.

Despite the job cuts, Galetti said Amazon will continue hiring in select strategic areas, signalling that the company is reallocating talent rather than instituting a broad hiring freeze.

The reductions align with earlier comments from Andy Jassy, who wrote in a memo last year that advances in artificial intelligence would require fewer employees in some roles while increasing demand for workers in others. Jassy also indicated that Amazon’s corporate workforce would likely shrink over the coming years as automation and AI adoption accelerate.

Internal confusion around the restructuring has also surfaced. Earlier this month, Amazon mistakenly sent a meeting invitation to numerous AWS employees referencing job cuts and a so-called “Project Dawn” initiative, according to Business Insider. The invite was latercancelledd, but not before causing anxiety among staff.

The layoffs follow other strategic changes announced this week. On Tuesday, Amazon confirmed it is closing its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, choosing instead to expand same-day grocery delivery and grow its Whole Foods Market presence. The company plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations over the next several years as part of that shift.