Amazon lays off about 1,900 engineers in a new wave of job cuts

Amazon has laid off nearly 1,900 engineers in four US states — 40% of the more than 4,700 recent layoffs.

The cuts are part of a plan to reduce the workforce by 14,000, announced in October, with mid-level software engineers hit hardest.

Teams hit hardest

• Amazon’s game studios in California
• Visual AI teams, including the group behind Amazon Lens
• The company’s advertising units

The CEO’s explanation

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the aim of the layoffs is to cut bureaucracy and make the organisation more agile, and did not attribute them to replacement by AI. However, Amazon has forecast that as generative AI advances, its corporate workforce will shrink.