Exclusive-Amazon targets as many as 30,000 corporate job cuts, sources say

By Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Amazon is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning on Tuesday, as the company works to pare expenses and compensate for overhiring during the peak demand of the pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter. The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon’s 1.55 million total employees, but nearly 10% of the company’s roughly 350,000 corporate employees. This would represent the largest job cut at Amazon since around 27,000 jobs were eliminated starting in late 2022.  An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment. Amazon has been trimming smaller numbers of jobs over the past two years across multiple divisions, including devices, communications, podcasting and others. The cuts beginning this week may impact a variety of divisions within Amazon, including human resources, known as People Experience and Technology, devices and services and operations, among others, the people said. Managers of impacted teams were asked to undergo training on Monday for how to communicate with staff following notifications that will start going out via email on Tuesday morning, the people said. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is undertaking an initiative to reduce what he has described as an excess of bureaucracy at the company, including by reducing the number of managers. He installed an anonymous complaint line for identifying inefficiencies that has elicited some 1,500 responses and over 450 process changes, he said earlier this year. Jassy said in June that the increased use of artificial intelligence tools would likely lead to further job cuts, particularly through automating repetitive and routine tasks. The full scope of this round of job cuts was not immediately clear. The people familiar with the matter said the number could change over time, as Amazon's financial priorities shift. Fortune earlier reported that the human resources division could be targeted with a cut of roughly 15%. Amazon shares were up 1.2% at $226.80 on Monday afternoon. The company plans to report third-quarter earnings on Thursday.  (Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)

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