Amazon employees woke up to a jolt — and not just from their inboxes.
The tech giant has confirmed it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide, hours after an internal email about the layoffs appeared to be sent by mistake.
The draft message, briefly shared late Tuesday before being pulled, revealed sweeping job losses across the US, Canada and Costa Rica.
By Wednesday morning, the news was official. Amazon said the cuts are part of a push to “remove bureaucracy” and speed things up.
Amazon Restructuring Intensifies
According to Beth Galetti, Amazon’s head of people experience and technology, this isn’t about endless rounds of layoffs.
“Many teams didn’t complete their reorganisation work until now,” she said, pointing to unfinished changes after last October’s 14,000 job cuts.
Still, insiders weren’t exactly shocked. A former employee told the BBC staff had long expected deeper cuts.
Internal chatter suggesting up to 30,000 roles could go by mid-year.
CEO Andy Jassy has been clear about the direction. Five days a week in the office. Tight cost controls. A tougher culture.
In his words, this is “a time to rethink everything we’ve ever done.”
Add the closure of Amazon’s remaining Fresh and Go grocery stores, and the message is blunt: Amazon is trimming hard.
The question is — leaner and faster, or just leaner and harsher?
