UPS and Meta Also Announce Layoffs
U.S. Education Company Cuts Workforce by Half
The spread of artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting major U.S. companies to implement layoffs. On October 28 (local time), Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, announced that it would cut 14,000 employees as part of organizational streamlining to respond to AI-driven innovation.
Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People eXperience and Technology at Amazon, announced the restructuring, including layoffs, and cited AI innovation as the reason behind the decision.
Vice President Galetti stated, “This generation of AI is the most innovative technology we have seen since the internet revolution,” adding, “AI is enabling companies to innovate faster than ever before, both in existing and new markets.” She continued, “I am convinced that in order to move faster for our customers and our business, we need to streamline the organization with fewer layers and a greater sense of ownership.”
Amazon is the second-largest employer in the United States after Walmart. Globally, it employs more than 1.54 million people, with approximately 350,000 at its headquarters.
The previous day, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Amazon was planning to cut up to 30,000 headquarters staff.
Earlier, in June, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, had predicted that layoffs would continue over the next several years as AI adoption increases. In an internal memo to employees, he stated, “Some of the roles we currently perform will require fewer people, while others will need more,” and added, “We expect the total number of employees to decrease over the next few years as we leverage AI broadly across the company to improve efficiency.”
On this day, Amazon’s stock closed at $229.25, up 1% from the previous trading session.
Other major companies have also announced layoffs. Logistics company UPS reported that it had cut 34,000 operations staff and 14,000 management staff so far this year to improve its financial structure.
On October 22, Meta laid off 600 employees in its AI division to address organizational bloat.
Not only large corporations but also small and medium-sized enterprises and startups have begun workforce reductions due to the impact of AI innovation. The previous day, U.S. online education company Chegg announced that, due to declining traffic and reduced sales caused by generative AI, it had laid off 388 employees, representing 45% of its workforce.
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