The company says it is trimming its workforce to free up cash for massive investments in artificial intelligence and automation.
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it would lay off 16,000 corporate employees, even as the company continues to post booming sales and profits, underscoring how aggressively it is reshaping its workforce to prioritize artificial intelligence.
The layoffs follow a previous round in October, when Amazon cut 14,000 corporate jobs, and bring total recent reductions to roughly 30,000 positions. Executives did not rule out further cuts.
The company said the move was aimed at trimming bureaucracy and freeing up resources as it prepares to spend heavily on A.I. infrastructure. Amazon is on track to invest about $125 billion in data centers and other capital projects to compete in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence.
The cuts come despite strong financial performance. Wall Street expects Amazon to report more than $211 billion in sales and over $21 billion in profits for the most recent quarter.
While Amazon’s vast warehouse workforce remains largely unaffected for now, company leaders have acknowledged that automation and artificial intelligence will reduce the need for corporate employees over time. Amazon has already signaled plans to replace hundreds of thousands of roles with robots and automated systems.
The latest layoffs highlight a growing reality across corporate America: even highly profitable companies are cutting white-collar jobs as they redirect money toward artificial intelligence, reshaping careers and raising fears about long-term job security.
