Amazon Cuts Nearly 1,000 Jobs In India, US, UK As Company Plans $220 Billion AI Investment

Amazon has cut nearly 1,000 white-collar jobs across India, the US and the UK as the e-commerce giant continues restructuring its retail operations, Reuters reported.

The latest layoffs primarily affect Amazon's Stores division, which manages its core online retail business. The reductions coincide with the company's two-day Prime Big Deal Days shopping event, which began on Tuesday.

Amazon confirmed the job cuts, saying organisational changes would help the company focus on its business priorities.

Amazon cuts jobs across retail operations

According to Reuters, the restructuring has affected several teams within the Stores business, including customer service and selling partner services.

Employees across multiple countries received layoff notifications, with internal Slack communications indicating the extent of the changes.

The latest reductions follow a larger round of more than 30,000 job cuts that began last year and continued into January.

Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos said earlier layoffs were partly linked to the company's rapid workforce expansion during the Covid pandemic.

Speaking in a Fox News interview, Bezos explained that increased online shopping during lockdowns had driven significant hiring.

The latest restructuring comes despite Amazon's plans to increase investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Amazon plans $220 billion AI investment

Amazon is preparing to spend a record $220 billion on data centres, semiconductors and other infrastructure supporting AI and cloud computing.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has indicated that most of the spending will go towards Amazon Web Services (AWS), particularly AI-related workloads.

Meanwhile, Business Insider reported that Amazon recruiters have approached former employees, including those previously laid off, about openings in AI, machine learning and cloud computing.

Recruitment emails showed that AWS Vice-President Swami Sivasubramanian's AI agent organisation contacted former employees in August under an initiative described as "Swami's Boomerang Reengagement Initiative".

An AWS Finance recruiter also reportedly offered a former employee an accelerated interview process.

Amazon spokeswoman Haley Silva said rehiring former employees was an established companywide practice, with candidates considered according to current vacancies.

She clarified that the recruitment outreach was not specifically targeted at employees who had left over Amazon's return-to-office policy.