Thousands at Amazon Face Uncertainty as 30,000 Jobs Set to Be Cut

Amazon is preparing to implement its largest round of job cuts since late 2022, with up to 30,000 corporate employees set to be laid off beginning Tuesday, October 29, 2025, according to a Reuters report citing three sources familiar with the matter. The layoffs, affecting approximately 10% of the company's roughly 350,000 corporate staff, represent a strategic effort to streamline operations and address overstaffing from the COVID-19 pandemic era, when e-commerce demand skyrocketed.

Amazon, which employs a total of 1.55 million people globally, has not yet issued an official comment through its spokesperson. This move comes amid broader economic pressures in the tech sector, where cost efficiencies remain a priority for major players navigating post-pandemic recovery.

The impending reductions will span multiple key divisions, including Human Resources—referred to internally as People Experience and Technology (PXT), Operations, Devices and Services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's cloud computing powerhouse. Managers in affected teams were reportedly instructed during a training session on Monday, October 28, to prepare for delivering termination notifications starting early Tuesday morning. These cuts build on a pattern of gradual workforce trimming over the past two years, targeting areas like devices, communications, and podcasting, as Amazon recalibrates its structure to boost profitability and agility in a competitive landscape.

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This announcement underscores Amazon's ongoing transformation under CEO Andy Jassy, who has emphasised efficiency since taking the helm in 2021. Previous layoffs, including 18,000 in November 2022 and smaller cuts in 2023, focused on similar themes of rightsizing after aggressive hiring during lockdowns. While the 30,000 figure is a fraction of the overall headcount, it signals intensified scrutiny on white-collar roles, potentially impacting morale and innovation pipelines. Analysts view this as a proactive step to fortify Amazon's position ahead of holiday shopping peaks and investments in AI and logistics, though it risks exacerbating talent shortages in high-demand fields like cloud services.

The layoffs arrive at a pivotal moment for the retail giant, which reported robust third-quarter earnings earlier in October 2025, driven by AWS growth and advertising revenue. However, softening consumer spending and regulatory headwinds have prompted belt-tightening across Silicon Valley.

For employees, resources like Amazon's internal career transition programmes and external job boards may offer pathways forward, while investors will watch for ripple effects on stock performance. As notifications roll out, the episode highlights the volatile nature of tech employment, where rapid expansions can swiftly reverse into contractions.

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