Amazon announced 16,000 corporate job cuts as part of cost-reduction efforts to redirect resources toward artificial intelligence development, following an earlier round of 14,000 layoffs in October.
Amazon announced Wednesday it would lay off 16,000 corporate employees, marking the second major workforce reduction in three months as the e-commerce giant redirects resources toward artificial intelligence infrastructure. The cuts follow 14,000 layoffs in late October, which were widely anticipated across Amazon’s corporate workforce after holiday shopping concluded.
The company cited efforts to reduce bureaucracy and allocate funds for heavy AI spending, particularly data center construction needed to compete in the technology race. Amazon did not rule out future job cuts but stated it was not establishing a regular pattern of layoffs every few months, according to reporting from Seattle by Karen Weise for The New York Times.