What Amazon told employees about axing 16 000 jobs

Amazon is cutting astir 16 000 firm jobs worldwide successful a large workforce restructuring announced connected 28 January 2026, the institution confirmed successful an interior memo to staff.

The simplification is portion of a broader program that could spot adjacent to 30 000 white-collar roles eliminated by mid-2026 arsenic Amazon seeks to streamline its organisation aft accelerated pandemic-era expansion.

The determination affects teams crossed cardinal units including unreality computing, retail, quality resources and media, and comes amid broader manufacture layoffs crossed ample tech firms.

Amazon’s interior message, shared by Beth Galetti, elder vice-president of People Experience and Technology, said plainly that “the reductions we are making contiguous volition interaction astir 16,000 roles crossed Amazon” and emphasised enactment for those affected.

The institution has framed the determination arsenic portion of a semipermanent organisational reset alternatively than a short-term cost-cutting exercise. Amazon’s enactment has antecedently described efforts to trim layers of bureaucracy and to amended decision-making velocity arsenic cardinal drivers down the cuts.

In the memo, Galetti referred to this ongoing restructuring, noting that earlier organisational changes had not been completed successful immoderate teams until now.

Industry analysts spot the layoffs arsenic portion of a broader displacement successful tech, wherever companies are rebalancing workforces aft over-hiring during the pandemic and realigning priorities astir emerging technologies specified arsenic artificial intelligence.

Amazon’s memo outlined circumstantial provisions for employees whose roles are being eliminated. For US-based staff, astir volition beryllium fixed a play to question caller positions wrong the company.

As Galetti explained: “That starts with offering astir US-based employees 90 days to look for a caller relation internally (timing volition alteration internationally based connected section and state level requirements).”

This interior transportation model mirrors practices astatine different ample tech firms during layoffs, wherever companies purpose to clasp endowment by moving employees into unfastened positions that lucifer their skills. However, not each affected individuals volition unafraid caller roles.

For those who bash not find caller positions oregon take not to look internally, the memo said Amazon volition supply a scope of modulation supports. Galetti wrote that for these employees the institution would connection “transition enactment including severance pay, outplacement services, wellness security benefits (as applicable), and more.”

These measures are emblematic of large-scale layoffs and purpose to cushion the interaction connected workers portion enabling vocation transitions.