SEATTLE— Amazon announced Wednesday it will lay off about 16,000 corporate workers in one of the biggest job cuts in the company’s history. The move follows earlier layoffs and is part of a larger plan to change how the company operates.

The company said the cuts bring total job losses since October to about 30,000. That figure includes 14,000 jobs eliminated in a round of layoffs last fall.

Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, wrote in a message to employees that the company wants to “reduce layers, increase ownership, and remove bureaucracy.” She said these changes will help make Amazon more efficient.

Most of the jobs being cut are corporate positions. That means workers in offices and teams that help run the business are affected. The company said it will give U.S.‑based employees up to 90 days to look for a new job inside the company. Those who don’t find new roles will be offered severance pay and continued health insurance benefits.

Amazon has said it will keep hiring in some areas, especially in parts of the business it sees as important for future growth, even as it trims its workforce.

The layoffs are Amazon’s largest since 2023, when it cut around 27,000 jobs during another wave of cuts among tech companies. The company’s workforce swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in recent years many big employers have reduced staff as online spending leveled off.

Some workers and observers have said the job cuts are tied to Amazon’s push to use more artificial intelligence and automation. CEO Andy Jassy has spoken in the past about how new technology could change the way work is done at the company.

The layoffs also come as Amazon closes physical stores like Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh and ends some services, as part of a broader effort to focus on its core business.

Amazon plans to report its earnings in early February.