The cuts come as Amazon wraps up its October Prime Big Deal Days sales event, which ran Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Internal Slack messages reviewed by news agencies and shared by affected Amazon employees reveal that multiple divisions across the tech giant face reductions, including customer service and selling partner services units.

“We’ve adjusted parts of our Stores business because we believe this structure will better enable us to deliver on our priorities,” an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters.

The company confirmed the layoffs but declined to provide a precise figure for the number of positions eliminated. The restructuring represents Amazon’s continued effort to reshape its organizational structure following a period of aggressive expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Context of Recent Workforce Reductions

This latest round of job cuts follows a much larger restructuring program that has removed approximately 30,000 positions since late last year. Amazon eliminated about 14,000 roles in late 2025 and another 16,000 in January 2026, with reductions extending across several parts of the company including Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing division.

The earlier workforce reductions were not confined to Amazon’s retail operation alone. Amazon Web Services also experienced significant cuts, including reductions affecting management roles across its cloud infrastructure business. These changes represent Amazon’s effort to right-size its workforce after what leadership acknowledges was overly aggressive hiring during the pandemic.

The downsizing occurs even as Amazon prepares to spend a record $220 billion on data centers, chips, and other infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and related operations. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has indicated that the spending would “predominantly” be directed towards Amazon Web Services to support AI workloads.

Bezos Addresses Pandemic-Era Overhiring

Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos addressed the company’s broader workforce reductions during an exclusive interview with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on “Special Report” that aired Wednesday. Bezos said Amazon was in a “very special position” after substantially expanding its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People were staying home and they were ordering, and it was an incredible, stressful period for us, by the way,” Bezos explained. “The whole team worked extremely hard and did so much, but we really grew our head count.”

The founder acknowledged that consumer behavior shifted heavily towards online shopping during pandemic lockdowns, driving Amazon to rapidly scale its operations and workforce. The company now faces the challenge of adjusting to more normalized demand patterns while maintaining operational efficiency and profitability.

Bezos also addressed public concerns about artificial intelligence’s impact on employment during the interview. He said he disagreed with predictions of a more troubling outcome, though he did not elaborate on his specific views regarding AI’s role in future workforce composition.

Strategic Reorganization Amid AI Expansion

The job cuts present an apparent paradox as Amazon simultaneously expands its investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company has reportedly been approaching former employees, including some who were laid off, for roles in AI, machine learning, and cloud computing, according to Business Insider reports.

This dual approach suggests Amazon is not simply reducing headcount but rather reshaping its workforce composition to align with strategic priorities focused on emerging technologies. The company appears to be moving resources away from traditional retail operations toward higher-growth areas like artificial intelligence and cloud services.

The Stores division, which manages Amazon’s core e-commerce website, has borne the brunt of recent workforce adjustments. These changes reflect broader shifts in the retail technology landscape as companies balance traditional online shopping operations with investments in next-generation technologies and automation.

Global Impact and Employee Response

The workforce reductions extend across Amazon’s international operations, with employees in India and the United Kingdom receiving layoff notices alongside their American counterparts. This global scope underscores the company’s determination to implement organizational changes uniformly across its worldwide operations.

Internal communications reviewed by news agencies show that affected employees have been sharing information and support through Amazon’s Slack channels. The posts reveal concerns about the cuts’ impact on various units, particularly in customer service and selling partner services, which directly support Amazon’s marketplace operations.

The latest layoffs represent a series of smaller job reductions following the massive cuts that began last year. Amazon’s approach suggests the company is making incremental adjustments rather than implementing another single large-scale reduction, possibly to minimize disruption to ongoing operations and employee morale.

Market Position and Future Outlook

Despite the workforce reductions, Amazon maintains its position as one of the world’s largest technology and retail companies. The stock traded at $258.69, down $1.23 or 0.47%, reflecting investor attention to the company’s restructuring efforts and strategic direction.

The company’s decision to eliminate positions in its core retail business while simultaneously increasing AI spending signals a strategic shift in resource allocation. Amazon’s leadership appears committed to positioning the company for long-term growth in emerging technology sectors, even if that requires painful short-term workforce adjustments in more mature business lines.

As Amazon continues to evolve its organizational structure, the balance between traditional e-commerce operations and cutting-edge technology investments will likely shape the company’s workforce composition for years to come. The current restructuring may represent just one phase in a longer-term transformation of how Amazon allocates human and financial resources across its diverse business portfolio.

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