Amazon To Lay Off Up To 15% Of HR Staff Amid AI-Driven Restructuring: Report

Amazon is reportedly planning to cut 15% of its human resources (HR) staff in a new wave of layoffs, Fortune reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The decision is part of a strategic restructuring focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud operations.

The HR department, known internally as the People eXperience and Technology (PXT) team, has over 10,000 employees globally, which includes the recruiting team, technology staff and other traditional HR roles. However, the report didn't clarify the exact number of employees that will be affected and when.

Some other areas of Amazon's core consumer business are also likely to be affected, the report mentioned.

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Earlier this year, the company laid off some employees associated with the consumer devices unit, Wondery podcast division and Amazon Web Services.

The report has also mentioned that over $100 billion is allocated for capital investments in AI and cloud infrastructure in 2025.

The report of layoffs suggests that the company is looking forward to making reductions in the corporate workforce as AI adoption increases efficiency.

Notably, CEO Andy Jassy has emphasised AI's central role in Amazon's future, driving efficiency and automation.

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Jassy oversaw the largest layoffs in company history from late 2022 into 2023 when Amazon cut 27,000 corporate roles. Not just Amazon, many other companies also made staff cuts during that pandemic-affected period.

In an official mail, which was also published on Amazon's corporate blog, "Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company."

He had also mentioned that not everyone in the company will be accommodated when the changes happen.

"We expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company," his email added.

Amid reports of layoffs, Amazon also plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season across its US warehouses.