Amazon layoffs loom: 15% of HR team expected to be cut as AI push accelerates

Amazon is expected to cut more jobs within its human resources team by a significant margin.

According to Fortune, the e-commerce giant is preparing to lay off approximately 15% of its HR department — equivalent to around 1,500 of the 10,000 HR employees. It is currently unknown when the layoffs will take place, and how many jobs in the Puget Sound region are at risk.

The layoffs come as the company continues to invest in AI, both in terms of products and company infrastructure. The company previously announced its intention to devote $100 billion to capital expenditures this year, with a focus on expanding its cloud and AI data centers.

The company’s ongoing adaptation of AI is expected to reduce the corporate workforce. While the shift to AI will create some new jobs, according to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, the company expects an overall decline in the number of employees.

“In virtually every corner of the company, we’re using Generative AI to make customers’ lives better and easier,” Jassy wrote in a statement in June. “Technologies like Generative AI are rare; they come about once in a lifetime, and completely change what’s possible for customers and businesses. So, we are investing quite expansively, and the progress we are making is evident.”

Jassy, who took over as Amazon’s CEO in 2021, has already overseen the most extensive layoffs in the company’s history, with 27,000 corporate employees let go between 2022 and 2023. Amazon has continued this trend, already cutting more jobs in waves over the past year.

KIRO Newsradio reached out to Amazon for comment.

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