Amazon Layoffs: AWS Employees Receive Premature Email Acknowledging Organizational Changes
Employees in **Amazon’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reportedly received an internal email on Tuesday acknowledging “organizational changes” at the company, inadvertently confirming an upcoming round of layoffs.
According to a report by CNBC, the notice was mistakenly sent to some AWS employees a day before Amazon was expected to begin the next phase of job cuts. The layoffs are part of the tech giant’s broader plan to reduce its corporate workforce by around 30,000 roles.
The email, which appeared to have been sent prematurely, was addressed to AWS staff and referenced difficult decisions being made as the company prepares for future growth. Reuters reported that the job cuts were scheduled to begin on Wednesday morning.
“Changes like this are hard on everyone,” wrote Colleen Aubrey, Senior Vice President of Applied AI Solutions at AWS, in the email reviewed by CNBC. “These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success.”
The message also referred to a post from Amazon’s HR head Beth Galetti, stating that employees in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica who were impacted had already been notified.
According to Reuters, several AWS employees said in internal Slack messages that a meeting scheduled for Wednesday was abruptly cancelled shortly after the email was sent, adding to confusion within the workforce.
Amazon Layoffs This Week: What We Know So Far
Reuters had earlier reported that Amazon planned to lay off thousands of corporate employees starting this week, though the company has not officially confirmed the details or informed all affected workers.
Jobs across multiple divisions—including AWS, retail, Prime Video, and human resources—are expected to be impacted, according to people familiar with the matter. However, the full scope of the layoffs remains unclear.
Amazon had already laid off around 14,000 employees in October as part of its broader cost-cutting initiative. On Tuesday, the company also announced job cuts in its Fresh grocery and Amazon Go divisions as it plans to close some physical stores and convert others into Whole Foods locations. The number of employees affected by those cuts was not disclosed.
If the full 30,000-job reduction is implemented, it would represent a small fraction of Amazon’s total workforce of approximately 1.58 million employees, but nearly 10% of its corporate staff.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has previously said the layoffs are aimed at reducing management layers and cutting internal bureaucracy to improve efficiency.
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