Amazon set to cut 14,000 jobs next week as part of its biggest redundancy drive in history

The redundancies could begin from Tuesday and are part of the tech giant’s wider push to slim down its corporate workforce by around 30,000 employees.

Sources cautioned that the exact details have not yet been finalised and could still change before any official announcement is made.

Several key divisions are expected to be affected. These include Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing arm, as well as its core retail business, Prime Video streaming service and its human resources division.

The HR department is internally known as People Experience and Technology. However, insiders warned that the final scope of the cuts remains unclear and could extend beyond the areas currently identified.

This latest round of job losses follows the removal of around 14,000 white-collar roles announced in October.

Those cuts accounted for nearly half of the 30,000-job reduction target first reported by Reuters.

Staff affected by the autumn redundancies were placed on a 90-day notice period, during which they remained on the payroll while searching for alternative roles within the company. That period is due to expire on Monday.

At the time, Amazon linked the decision to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

In an internal message, the company said AI represented the most significant technological shift since the birth of the internet, allowing businesses to innovate faster than ever before.

However, chief executive Andy Jassy later offered a different explanation.

Speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, he told analysts: "It's not really financially driven and it's not even really AI-driven. It's culture."

Mr Jassy said the company had built up too many layers of management and more staff than it needed, suggesting the cuts were aimed at reducing bureaucracy rather than responding to technological change.

The technology giant has declined to comment on the reports, which were first published by Reuters.

If completed, the full 30,000 job cuts would impact almost 10 per cent of Amazon’s corporate workforce.

However, the reductions represent only a small share of the company’s total 1.58 million employees, most of whom are based in fulfilment centres and warehouses.

If the plans go ahead, the cuts would mark the largest round of layoffs in Amazon’s 30-year history. They would surpass the roughly 27,000 roles eliminated in 2022.

Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings on February 5.

The company’s shares have edged higher since the start of the year, following a largely flat performance throughout 2025.