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E-commerce major Amazon, which cut some 14,000 white-collar jobs in October 2025, is planning a second round of layoffs this week, with a larger aim of reducing its corporate workforce by about 30,000.
The layoffs could begin from Tuesday, according to a Reuters report that citied two people familiar with the matter.
During the layoffs in October, at least 800 people in India lost their jobs.
Employees in Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and the People Experience and Technology HR units are expected to be affected, the report said. The full extent of the impact, however, remains unclear, while Amazon's plans could still change.
According to multiple reports and employee chatter on anonymous corporate forums such as Blind and Reddit, India-based teams are likely to be among those hit harder.
The AI factor
Amazon cited the first round of job cuts in October on the rise of artificial intelligence software, saying in an internal letter that “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.”
However, CEO Andy Jassy later told analysts during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the reduction was “not really financially driven and it’s not even really AI-driven.” Rather, he said, “it’s culture," meaning the company has too much bureaucracy.
“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers," he said. Jassy had said earlier in 2025 that he expected Amazon’s corporate workforce to shrink over time as a result of efficiencies gained from the use of AI.
10% of corporate workforce
The 30,000 jobs that the company is planning to slash is nearly 10% of its corporate workforce. The majority of Amazon’s 1.58 million employees are in fulfillment centers and warehouses.
Affected workers in October were told they would remain on the payroll for 90 days, during which time they could apply for jobs internally or seek other employment. That period expired on January 26.
(With agency inputs)