Amazon to cut 14,000 jobs as it shifts resources towards AI

Staff at the tech behemoth have been told the imminent job losses are part of efforts to reduce “bureaucracy” within the company.

The cuts, which are understood to impact all of Amazon's main global operations, are also the result of the firm's shifting resources to investment in areas such as as AI, bosses said.

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UK office roles are amongst those on the chopping block, with staff working in human resources, operations, devices and services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) most likely to be affected.

Amazon employs about 75,000 people in the UK and more than 1.5 million staff globally, of which about 350,000 are in office-based roles – while the majority of work in warehouses.

Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, said in a message to employees: "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.”

She added: “The world is changing quickly.

"This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.

"We’re convicted that we need to be organised more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business."

The firm said it is also hiring in other areas and will offer most affected employees 90 days to look for a new role internally, with those candidates given priority.

Those unable to find new roles will be offered support including severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits.

Boss Andy Jassy, who has aggressively sought to slash costs since becoming chief executive in 2021, warned workers in June that a number of jobs in the business could be replaced by AI.

He is seeking to reverse the company's hiring spree seen during the peak of the pandemic, when shoppers shifted their habits online.

Amazon has been trimming roles across the business in recent years, with cuts affecting divisions such as devices, communications and podcasting.

In the UK, it revealed plans to shut all its Amazon Fresh grocery stores last month, putting up to 250 jobs at risk.

The plans come after Mr Jassy said in June that the increased use of generative AI and AI agents, autonomous AI software systems, will reduce the size of its corporate workforce in the coming years.

In a previous note to employees, he said: “As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done.

"We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs."