E-commerce giant Amazon on 28 October said that it is laying off 14,000 employees as it seeks to reduce bureaucracy and increase investment in artificial intelligence (AI), according to reports.

Overall, amid news of layoffs at multiple tech companies, at least 81,445 jobs have been directly impacted due to AI-led restructuring.

Amazon, in an official statement, called the job cuts a “continuation” to strengthen operations by “further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs”, AFP reported.

Earlier today, Reuters and Fortune cited sources to report that the retail and tech company would fire a total of 30,000 corporate employees globally — its largest layoffs since late 2022, when it cut 27,000 roles. Amazon employs around 15 lakh people overall, of which 3.5 lakh are corporate employees.

‘AI most transformative’: What did Amazon say about job cuts?

The statement, signed by Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, read: “While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles.”

Galetti added that AI is the “most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet”, adding that “it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before”, the AFP report added.

“Looking ahead to 2026, we expect to continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realise efficiency gains,” she stated.

Notably, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been vocal about AI adoption, stating that those who fail to adapt would be left behind. In June, in a company memo, he wrote, “Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company.”

Meta to Microsoft — which companies have cut jobs amid AI push?

Amazon is joining the ranks of big tech that have, in recent months, shaved staffing strength as increased investment in AI reshapes the industry. Overall, at least 81,445 jobs have been directly impacted due to AI-led restructuring.

• Meta: On 23 October, Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang informed employees that 600 roles will be cut from the company’s artificial intelligence unit, also known as Meta’s Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Reportedly, the newly formed TBD Lab group, which includes many of the highly paid recent hires, has not been hit. Meta is encouraging the fired workers to apply for jobs in other departments, and the company plans to keep hiring for its AI teams, as per a Bloomberg report citing sources.
• Google: On 2 October, CNBC reported that Alphabet-owned Google laid off 100 design department employees, working on its data, survey and other tools, as part of its ongoing push to accelerate AI. Prior to that, in September too, Google laid off over 200 contractors working to train and refine its AI projects — AI Overviews and Gemini, Wired reported, citing sources.
• Microsoft: The software major has reportedly cut close to 4,000 jobs (over 40% roles) in its software engineering business, as per a Bloomberg report. The move made alarm bells ring for software developers in the age of AI. Microsoft also announced that it will cut nearly 6,000 jobs across divisions, with over 30% based in Washington.

• TCS: Tata Consultancy Services laid off 6,000 employees globally this year, and plans to cut another 6,000 jobs as part of its restructuring plans and push for AI. The Tata Group unit will shave 2% of its total workforce in the 2025-26 fiscal.
• Salesforce: In September, CEO Marc Benioff, in a YouTube interview, said that the company has cut 4,000 customer support jobs amid the use of AI tools. He said that AI has taken over a larger share in the California-based tech major’s customer service. Overall, Salesforce has reduced its customer support workforce from 9,000 employees to 5,000, as per Benioff.
• Accenture: In October, IT consulting firm Accenture also announced 11,000 roles would be slashed globally, with potentially more jobs on the chopping block, as the firm undertakes major restructuring amid its AI push.

• IBM: IBM has this year cut close to 1,000 job roles as the company shifted to its hybrid cloud and AI business.
• Cognizant: The IT services company laid off 3,500 employees in an effort to simplify the organisation’s structure.
• Wipro: Indian IT firm has reportedly slashed 24,516 jobs to improve its cost efficiency and productivity in the sector.
• Intel: In July, Intel Corp reportedly laid off 529 employees as part of a broader cost-cutting plan. As much as 20% of the chipmakers’ staff are expected to be hit, as per Bloomberg.

(With inputs from Agencies)