Amazon has cut 30,000 corporate jobs across two waves in 2026. The January wave eliminated 16,000 positions as part of a management layer reduction, and the March wave cut another 14,000 as AI efficiency initiatives expanded. Combined with cuts from late 2025, this represents one of the largest sustained workforce reductions in tech history.
The January cuts targeted middle management specifically, with CEO Andy Jassy pushing to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers. The March cuts went deeper, applying AI-driven efficiency analysis to identify roles that could be automated or consolidated.
At 1.57 million total employees, Amazon's corporate cuts represent a fraction of its total workforce. But the corporate headquarters in Seattle has felt the impact acutely. The company is fundamentally restructuring how it operates its non-warehouse business, and the message to remaining employees is clear: prove your value or become the next efficiency target.