The tech industry is reeling in layoffs and Amazon is not immune to it. In October, Amazon laid of 14,000 employees globally and nearly 10 percent of its white-collar workforce. In India, over 800 to 1,000 employees were laid off in the finance, technology, marketing, and HR divisions. According to Amazon Senior Vice President for emerging markets, Amit Agarwal, the ongoing workforce reductions are a deliberate strategy to strip away bureaucratic layers and foster a nimble, startup-like operation, particularly as artificial intelligence accelerates the pace of business transformation.
Amazon India job cuts: Streamlining for speed in an AI Era
Agarwal emphasised that these changes align with Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy's vision of transforming the company into 'the biggest startup'. Speaking to ET, he explained, "(Amazon CEO) Andy Jassy has said publicly that we want to be the biggest startup… and that matters even more in an AI-driven world, where the rate of change is accelerating… To operate that way, we need fewer layers. The workforce reductions are primarily about removing those layers, and we’ll continue to do that because we want to stay lean and move like a startup. At the same time, we’ll keep hiring where we need to."
This approach, he added, is essential for maintaining competitiveness amid rapid technological shifts, with Amazon actively urging its employees to leverage AI tools to enhance productivity across functions.
Amazon India job cuts: Plans for expansion in India
Despite the headcount reductions, Amazon remains bullish on India, where it has already poured $40 billion into investments since 2010, positioning itself as the country's leading foreign direct investor, top exporter, and largest job creator. The firm recently upped its investment pledge to $35 billion by 2030, more than doubling the previous $15 billion target.
On the quick commerce front, Agarwal highlighted a strategic focus on Prime-loyalty dense urban clusters to maximise coverage for subscribers, rather than chasing arbitrary city expansion metrics.
