Amazon hired as its delivery demand peaked during the COVID pandemic, meaning analysts anticipated layoffs. The company is also in the process of boosting its AI spending with a view to streamlining.
A note to employees on the changes said the company would continue 'reducing
bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we're investing in our biggest bets'Image: Dado Ruvic/REUTERS
The company said in a note to employees that was also posted on its website that the cuts would help with "further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we're investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers' current and future needs."
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Restructuring after the COVID delivery boom
Amazon is in the process of adapting to demand that's slightly lower than at its peak during the lockdowns of the COVID pandemic, when it hired additional staff to cope with the spike.
Over the past two years, the e-commerce giant has been gradually cutting jobs across divisions including books, devices and its podcast business Wondery.
Beth Galetti, senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, wrote in the note that that company would continue "reducing in some areas and hiring in others" heading into 2026.
Employees were told that most affected workers would be given 90 days to seek new roles internally; recruiting teams would prioritize such candidates, the company said.
How one Amazon outage can break the internet
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How is AI investment impacting Amazon job cuts?
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in June that the adoption of generative AI would reduce the total corporate workforce at the company in the coming years.
The e-commerce giant is focusing much of its capital investment on building AI and cloud infrastructure, including building a $10-billion (roughly €8.6-billion) campus in North Carolina, one of four such data center projects in the US.
"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 said.
Venetian vows: Bezos, billionaires and backlash
Italy's Venice is the stage for a wedding of superlatives: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are tying the knot, surrounded by stars and a flurry of paparazzi. But the glitzy spectacle has sparked loud protests.
Image: Luca Bruno/AP Photo/picture alliance
Gliding through Venice's canals
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were in high spirits as they cruised through the waterways on Thursday at the welcome party for their multiday wedding in the lagoon city. Entire neighborhoods have been cordoned off, and boat traffic on the busy canals has also been restricted. The couple is staying at the luxury hotel Aman on the Grand Canal.
Image: Luca Bruno/AP/dpa/picture alliance
Ceremony on San Giorgio Maggiore
US billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of online retail giant Amazon, and former journalist Lauren Sanchez were set to tie the knot on Friday on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The small island, around 10 hectares (24 acres) in size, is located in the Venetian Lagoon and is home to a Benedictine monastery, a church and the Teatro Verde, where the ceremony was expected to take place.
The police are patrolling the entire city and monitoring the canals with Jet Skis. Due to the protests that have been going on for days and the possibility of attacks, the highest security measures are in place. The dates and details of the multiday celebration remained strictly confidential.
Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance
Resistance at St. Mark's Square
A few days ago, a large Greenpeace banner caused a stir in St. Mark's Square. The poster, prominently placed on the ground, reads: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax." For weeks, local and international activists have been protesting against the wedding and have already announced their intention to disrupt the celebrations.
Image: Yara Nardi/REUTERS
'No Space for Bezos'
On June 13, protesters unfurled a banner reading "No Space for Bezos" on the Rialto Bridge. The tech billionaire's lavish wedding brings together several controversial aspects: One of the richest men in the world is celebrating in a city that has become a symbol of mass tourism and the dramatic consequences of climate change in recent years.
Image: Manuel Silvestri/REUTERS
Creative protest
Tourists pose in front of an art installation by the collective "Konn Artiss," which depicts Jeff Bezos sitting on a toilet made of Amazon boxes. With several provocative installations throughout the city, the artist collective is protesting the wedding spectacle in a unique way.
Image: Click News/Handout via REUTERS
Boatful of Kardashians
Despite the numerous protests, many celebrities couldn't miss the big event. The Kardashian clan attracted plenty of attention posing for photos on the Grand Canal on Thursday. A total of around 200 to 250 prominent guests from the worlds of politics, business and entertainment were expected, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, talk show icon Oprah Winfrey and actor Orlando Bloom.
Image: Guglielmo Mangiapane/REUTERS
Pricey festivities
Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, also made the trip to Venice with her husband Jared Kushner and their children. The cost of the opulent celebration has been estimated at around $10 million (€8.5 million). A tally by the governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, was even higher: between €40 million and €48 million.
Image: Luigi Costantini/AP Photo/picture alliance
Take your best shot
The coming days are likely to be turbulent for guests and paparazzi alike, as the wedding celebrations are set to last for at least three days. Between June 25 and 28, expect to see countless photos of the huge event — along with further protests.
Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance
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The company is also vested in AI's growth, as it plows resources into generating its own AWS business that seeks to compete with other major players like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft. An AWS outage last week showed how far the tool has spread, with disruption everywhere from Duolingo and Snapchat to popular online games like Fortnite and Gran Turismo 7.
Amazon has roughly 350,000 corporate employees and a total workforce of approximated 1.56 million. Tuesday's cuts represent roughly 4% of its corporate workforce.
It was the largest reduction since 2023, when the company announced 27,000 job cuts in two waves.
The company will post quarterly results on Thursday, with the last set of figures showing 17.5% growth for its AWS cloud computing arm.
