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Amazon Layoffs: E-commerce giant to slash 30,000 corporate jobs in biggest cuts since 2022 — What’s driving the move?

Published on 28/10/2025 09:53 AM

Amazon Layoffs: Amazon is reportedly planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning Tuesday, marking one of its largest workforce reductions since 2022, according to foreign media reports.

The move is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to streamline operations and correct overhiring during the pandemic-driven boom.

The layoffs will affect roughly 10 per cent of Amazon’s corporate workforce, which stands at about 350,000 employees, though it represents a small portion of its 1.55 million total staff worldwide.

The cuts are expected to impact several departments, including human resources (People Experience and Technology or PXT), operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Sources cited by international media said that managers of affected teams were briefed on Monday and underwent training to communicate with impacted staff. Email notifications for the layoffs are expected to start going out Tuesday morning.

This move comes as Amazon continues to trim expenses and realign its structure following the pandemic hiring surge. The company has already conducted smaller rounds of layoffs over the past two years across divisions such as devices, communications, and podcasting.

According to Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking global tech job losses, about 98,000 employees have been laid off so far in 2025 across 216 tech companies. In comparison, 153,000 jobs were cut in 2024, while 2023 saw the steepest wave of layoffs with over 260,000 roles eliminated.

The latest cuts also coincide with a slowdown in Amazon’s cloud computing business. AWS, the company’s largest profit driver, reported second-quarter sales of $30.9 billion, up 17.5 per cent year-on-year, but lagging behind competitors like Microsoft’s Azure (39 per cent) and Google Cloud (32 per cent).

Estimates suggest AWS’s third-quarter revenue could rise 18 per cent to $32 billion, a slight moderation from last year’s growth rate.

Despite the layoffs, Amazon is gearing up for a busy holiday season, planning to hire 250,000 seasonal workers, the same as in previous years, to support warehouse operations and logistics.

The company also recently announced a reorganisation within its PXT division, particularly in its diversity initiatives team, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters.

With this move, Amazon joins other tech giants, including Microsoft, Meta, Google, Salesforce, and Intel, in making significant job cuts this year, many citing AI-driven restructuring and cost optimisation.

Amazon remains the second-largest private employer in the United States, and its latest job reductions highlight the broader trend of continued recalibration in the global tech sector amid automation and shifting business priorities.

Anubhav Maurya is a Senior Sub-Editor at Zee Business, focusing on the stock market, personal finance, corporate news, and related sectors.

He has previously worked wi