Amazon has laid off at least several hundred employees from its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to two sources familiar with the development. The job cuts come weeks after CEO Andy Jassy signaled that the growing adoption of generative AI tools would lead to organizational changes, including workforce reductions.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but did not disclose the number of affected roles. The company, which had a global headcount of 1.6 million as of March, now joins other major tech firms like Microsoft, Meta, and CrowdStrike in implementing job cuts this year. The broader shift toward AI adoption is prompting companies to automate software development and streamline repetitive tasks, leading to reduced reliance on human labor.
“We’ve made the difficult business decision to eliminate some roles across particular teams in AWS,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “These decisions are necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers.”
AWS, Amazon’s most profitable segment, reported strong financials in the first quarter, with revenue climbing 17% year-on-year to $29.3 billion and operating income rising 23% to $11.5 billion.
Some impacted employees reported receiving termination emails on Thursday morning, notifying them of the layoffs and impending deactivation of their company devices. While the full extent of the cuts remains unclear, one group hit by the layoffs is the AWS “specialists” team, which collaborates directly with clients on product development and sales initiatives. Multiple teams within AWS were reportedly affected.
This latest move adds to a series of recent reductions across Amazon’s operations, including its books, devices and services units, and Wondery, the podcast division. CEO Jassy has previously emphasized a need to streamline operations and reduce internal complexity, including cutting layers of management.
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