Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is cutting thousands of jobs just as it doubles down on artificial intelligence, eliminating roles — especially engineers — that its own AI tools are poised to replace.
The company slashed over 14,000 jobs last month across nearly every major business — from Amazon Web Services and devices to retail and advertising — and engineers took the biggest hit.
State WARN filings in New York, California, New Jersey, and Washington show that engineers accounted for almost 40% of the 4,700+ roles eliminated in those states, representing a significant share of Amazon's largest layoff round in its 31-year history.
Also Read: Is Amazon The Next Big AI Winner? One Analyst Thinks Wall Street Is Wrong
The filings only reflect part of the total, as reporting rules vary by state.
Benzinga reached out to Amazon for comment on the report and is awaiting a response.
An October Reuters report indicated Amazon will eliminate up to 30,000 corporate jobs. The layoff targeted nearly 10% of its 350,000 office staff to streamline operations after pandemic hiring surged, affecting human resources, operations, devices, and services.
CEO Andy Jassy has said AI adoption will increasingly replace repetitive roles.
Despite the cuts, Amazon still plans to hire 250,000 seasonal workers for the holidays and remains the second-largest U.S. private employer with more than 1.54 million workers.
The $2.32 trillion Big Tech giant’s stock gained 11% in the last 12 months.
On October 30, Amazon delivered stronger-than-expected third-quarter results, reporting net sales of $180.2 billion — up 13% year-over-year and ahead of Wall Street's $177.8 billion forecast. Earnings per share jumped to $1.95, beating estimates of $1.57.
North America sales grew 11% to $106.3 billion, International climbed 14% to $40.9 billion and AWS surged 20% to $33.0 billion.
Jassy highlighted accelerating AWS growth and broad AI-driven momentum across the business.
For the fourth quarter, Amazon expects revenue between $206 billion and $213 billion, representing 10% to 13% growth.
Amazon joined the broader tech industry's post-pandemic reset, with more than 113,000 layoffs across 231 tech firms this year despite strong profits and rising cash reserves, CNBC reported, citing Layoffs.fyi.
Jassy is tightening corporate operations to make Amazon "the world's largest startup," reducing layers, speeding up decisions, and cutting costs after years of hiring sprees.
The company is expected to cut more jobs in January, CNBC previously reported.
Mid-level software engineers (SDE II) were disproportionately affected as AI changes how companies build code. Amazon is rolling out its own AI coding assistant, Kiro, while rivals are deploying similar tools.
The layoffs also hit product and program managers, senior leaders, and creative roles across gaming, visual search, and advertising.
Amazon halted most big-budget MMO game development and cut teams behind AI shopping tools like Amazon Lens.
More than 140 jobs in its New York ad business were also eliminated.
AMZN Price Action: Amazon.com shares were up 1.46% at $220.30 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Read Next:
Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
