Amazon Laid Off Over 1,800 Engineers In Record Job Cuts In October

Amazon's latest restructuring effort has resulted in one of the largest staff reductions in its history, particularly affecting engineering teams, according to state labour filings. 

The company announced more than 14,000 layoffs in October 2025, a wave impacting nearly every corner of its business, from cloud services and devices to retail, advertising, and groceries.

Records submitted in states, including New York, California, New Jersey and Washington, show just how sharply engineering was affected. 

Of the more than 4,700 layoffs recorded in those states, nearly 40% were engineering positions, CNBC reported, based on data Amazon provided through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings.

Not all states disclose information in the same way, meaning the figures reflect only part of the wider cuts. The job reductions come as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy continues pushing to overhaul the company's internal culture.

 Another round of job losses is expected in January 2026, the report added.

According to Amazon, AI wasn't the main driver of the layoffs, stating that the cuts were aimed at reducing layers and speeding up decisions. Even so, its shift towards AI is already reshaping the workforce, with Jassy telling investors in June that white-collar roles would likely decline as AI tools boost efficiency.

The pressure to innovate quickly was echoed in a memo by Beth Galetti, Amazon's human resources chief, who announced the layoffs to staff. 

“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,” Galetti wrote.

She added, “We're convinced 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.”

WARN filings show that the cuts affected engineers at various levels but disproportionately hit SDE II staff or the mid-level software developers.

The layoffs also affected more than 500 product managers and programme managers across states that filed notices, representing over 10% of recorded cuts. Senior managers and principal-level roles were also included, according to the filings.

Amazon's gaming division was among the hardest hit in the latest restructuring. California WARN filings show significant reductions in its San Diego and Irvine studios as well as in central publishing. 

In a memo to staff accessed by CNBC, Steve Boom, Vice President of Audio, Twitch and Games, said “significant role reductions” would take place across these areas. Game designers, artists and producers accounted for more than a quarter of the cuts in Irvine, and about 11% of those in San Diego.

Amazon has also scaled back its visual search and shopping teams, according to LinkedIn posts from affected staff. The Palo Alto unit behind Amazon Lens and Lens Live saw software engineers, applied scientists and QA specialists hit by the layoffs, WARN filings show. 

Separately, more than 140 advertising sales and marketing roles were cut in New York as part of the broader downsizing of Amazon's online ad business.