Amazon layoffs: Who will get laid-off, from when and why as online retail giant cuts 14,000 jobs — All you need to know

E-commerce and tech giant Amazon plans to lay off around 14,000 jobs from today, 28 October, to reduce expenses and manage “overhiring” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Reuters report citing sources.

They added that on 27 October, managers of the affected teams were asked to undergo training on how to communicate with the staff following email notifications that will start going out on the morning of 28 October (US time).

The report said that a spokesperson for Amazon has declined to comment when asked about the layoffs.

“The reductions we're sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we're investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers' current and future needs,” Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon told employees in a message today, AP reported.

Earlier reports by Reuters and Fortune said that Amazon is preparing to eliminate as many as 30,000 corporate jobs.

Amazon's largest layoffs since 2022: Who will be affected?

Amazon employs around 15 lakh people overall, of which 3.5 lakh are corporate employees. These jobs will be cut.

Further, the Reuters report cited sources as saying that these job cuts will include personnel across Amazon Web Services (AWS), the operations, devices, and services division, and the human resources, People Experience and Technology, or PXT division.

Notably, if the layoff numbers do reach 30,000, this would be the company's largest layoff since late 2022, when it cut 27,000 roles. Over the past two years, the CEO Andy Jassy-led company has laid off fewer employees across divisions, including communications, devices and podcasting.

The sources said that the number of those impacted could change as the company's financial priorities shift. An earlier Fortune report cited sources saying that as much as 15 per cent of the human resources division could get pink slips.

Watch: Amazon’s Biggest Layoff: Why 30,000 Corporate Jobs Will Be Gone | ‘Reducing Excess Of Bureaucracy’

Why the layoffs at Amazon?

The development is being viewed as Amazon’s cost-cutting strategy as it seeks to calibrate “over hiring” after the COVID-19 pandemic to keep up with online demand and expansion projects.

The report said that Jassy is looking to trim “excess bureaucracy” by reducing the number of managers and installed an anonymous complaint line to identify “inefficiencies”. The line has received around 1,500 responses and 450 process changes, it added.

In June, Jassy also told employees that the company would increase the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The memo stressed the importance of employees “embracing” this change, stating, "… become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the companyWe expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”

Two of Reuters' sources also said that the cuts come as Amazon's back-to-office program has failed to generate enough attrition. They said that the cuts include some employees who are not swiping in daily (five days working) and are being told to voluntarily resign and leave without severance.

(With inputs from Reuters and AP)