In an effort to reduce its payroll costs and increase its reliance on artificial intelligence, Amazon said on Tuesday that it is eliminating 14,000 corporate positions.
Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, stated earlier this year that as the company becomes more efficient, it will be able to reduce its human workforce due to its investment in AI tools.
In a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology, stated that the layoffs will enable Amazon “to operate like the world’s largest startup.”
She said, “We must keep in mind that the world is changing swiftly.” The most revolutionary technology since the Internet, this generation of AI is allowing businesses to develop far more quickly than in the past (in both current market sectors and completely new ones).
Amazon is “investing quite expansively” on generative AI technologies, according to Jassy earlier this year. The business intends to invest $10 billion in a new AI “innovation campus” in North Carolina. Its AI initiative is geared at incorporating artificial intelligence into products like its Alexa voice assistant and e-commerce purchasing tools, though the ambitions extend beyond retail.
During a May conference call with industry analysts, Jassy stated that the company’s cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services, had enormous growth potential.
Neil Saunders, an analyst and managing director of GlobalData, stated in an email that this is, in some respects, a turning point from human capital to technological infrastructure.
With over 1.5 million workers globally, the e-commerce behemoth is the second-largest private employer in the United States, with Walmart occupying the top position.
According to Saunders, the layoffs at Amazon are significant in scale and signify a thorough cleansing of the company’s corporate personnel.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced intentions to employ 250,000 seasonal workers for warehouse and transportation labor over the holidays, despite the business reducing its corporate personnel.
