Additional Coverage:
- Amazon cut more than 1,800 engineers in record layoffs, despite saying it needs to innovate faster (cnbc.com)
Amazon’s Layoffs Hit Engineers Hardest, Signaling Shift Towards Leaner Operations
Seattle, WA – New state filings reveal that a significant portion of Amazon’s recently announced mass layoffs disproportionately impacted engineering roles, accounting for nearly 40% of the approximately 4,700 positions eliminated across Washington, New York, New Jersey, and California. The tech giant’s move underscores a broader industry trend of corporate restructuring and an increased focus on efficiency and artificial intelligence.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings submitted by Amazon across these four states indicate that engineers bore the brunt of the job cuts. While these figures represent a segment of Amazon’s total layoffs announced in October, the available data highlights the company’s strategic shift.
Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, has been vocal about his vision to transform the company’s corporate culture, aiming to create “the world’s largest startup” – a leaner, less bureaucratic organization. This mission involves urging employees to achieve more with fewer resources and streamlining operations by reducing organizational “bloat.”
The latest round of cuts, Amazon’s steepest in its 31-year history, aligns with a wider trend across the tech sector. This year alone, almost 113,000 jobs have been slashed at 231 tech companies, a continuation of adjustments initiated in 2022 as businesses recalibrate post-pandemic.
Further job reductions are anticipated in January, as Amazon continues to reallocate resources. A key area of increased investment is artificial intelligence. Jassy has previously predicted that AI-driven efficiency gains could lead to a reduction in corporate headcount in the coming years.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s chief human resources officer, emphasized the importance of innovation in her memo announcing the layoffs, noting that the company must now achieve this with a smaller workforce, particularly fewer engineers. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet,” Galetti wrote, stressing the need for a more agile structure to accelerate innovation.
Amazon has stated that AI is not the primary driver behind the majority of these job cuts, instead reiterating its goal to reduce bureaucracy and enhance operational speed. Jassy attributed the cuts in part to a “culture” issue stemming from an extended hiring spree that led to “a lot more layers” and slower decision-making processes.
The layoffs affected a range of software engineer levels, with mid-level “SDE II” roles being disproportionately impacted, according to the WARN filings. The burgeoning AI boom is also influencing the demand for software development jobs, as companies increasingly adopt AI-powered coding assistants. Amazon has even introduced its own competitor, Kiro.
‘Significant Role Reductions’ Beyond Engineering
Beyond engineering, the layoffs also impacted other significant areas. More than 500 product managers and program managers were eliminated, representing over 10% of the total cuts in states with WARN notices. Senior manager and principal-level roles were also included in the reductions.
As part of its broader belt-tightening efforts, Amazon has been curtailing investments in experimental or unprofitable ventures in recent years. This includes the discontinuation of a telehealth service, a kids’ video calling device, a fitness wearable, and several brick-and-mortar retail chains.
Amazon’s video game division was a notable target in this latest wave of layoffs. Steve Boom, Vice President of Audio, Twitch, and Games, informed staff that “significant role reductions” would occur in its San Diego and Irvine, California, game studios, as well as within its central publishing team.
Game designers, artists, and producers constituted a substantial portion of the cuts in these locations. The company is also significantly scaling back its work on big-budget, or “triple-A,” massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.
Furthermore, Amazon’s visual search and shopping teams, primarily based in Palo Alto, California, saw considerable downsizing. This unit is responsible for AI shopping tools like Amazon Lens and Lens Live, which allow users to find products through their device cameras. Software engineers, applied scientists, and quality assurance engineers were heavily impacted in these offices.
Even Amazon’s highly profitable online advertising business experienced downsizing, with over 140 ad sales and marketing roles eliminated across its New York offices, accounting for roughly 20% of the positions cut there.