How Is Amazon Reshaping Its Workforce For an AI Future?

Amazon is set to reduce its corporate workforce by approximately 14,000 roles, a move that its leadership has positioned as a strategic reorganisation to capitalise on emerging opportunities in AI. 

The decision reflects a deliberate effort on the part of CEO Andy Jassy to create a leaner organisational structure more akin to a startup and prepared for the pace of technological change.

According to a report from the BBC, Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President at Amazon, explained the company’s rationale in a note to staff.

She stated that, in order to keep pace with AI developments, Amazon needed to be “organised more leanly”, referencing a flattened structure and greater ownership for and responsibility for employees.

The changes will impact around 4% of Amazon's 350,000 corporate employees.

Amazon’s changing organisational structure

Amazon’s leadership team has presented the workforce reduction as a fundamental reinvention of the business, rather than a retreat or negative evolution. 

Beth told employees that the objective is to build a stronger company by reallocating resources towards its most key strategic initiatives. 

She explained: “We’re convicted that we need to be organised more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

Beth also told staff that the restructuring allows Amazon to “shift resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs.” 

The strategy involves substantial capital expenditure, with plans to invest up to US$118bn this year, primarily on data centres for AI. This includes expanding facilities to accommodate AI chips for Anthropic, a startup in which Amazon has invested US$8bn this year. 

Reshaping corporate culture

Restructuring Amazon’s organisation aligns with CEO Andy Jassy’s long-term vision, centred around reshaping the company’s corporate culture to prioritise efficiency and agility. 

According to the Financial Times, Andy has been working to streamline management layers to foster an environment that operates “like the world’s largest startup”. 

This philosophy is now being implemented across Amazon as it moves towards AI and cloud infrastructure.

Andy has been transparent about how AI will influence Amazon's future staffing needs. 

In June he told employees that technological advancements would “reduce” corporate headcount in the coming years. 

“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” he said, according to the BBC. 

This view is echoed by industry analysts. Ben Barringer, Technology Analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told the BBC that as AI tools advance “job losses are inevitable”, noting that major tech firms are “redistributing and restructuring their workforces accordingly.”

Fostering a startup mentality

Andy’s leadership approach provides the framework for these organisational changes. 

In late 2024 he issued a memo requiring corporate staff to return to the office full-time – a move intended to “increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers, improve innovation and deepen collaboration.” 

This decision was part of a broader strategy to flatten Amazon and enable faster decision-making.

In the memo he explained: “We want to work like the world’s largest startup,” which demands “a mix of constant invention, high ownership, strong urgency and shared commitment.” 

In his 2024 shareholder letter, Andy reiterated the importance of speed as a core leadership principle, stating: “Speed is a leadership decision. The leadership team has to believe it’s a priority, reinforce it constantly, organise and remove structural barriers and build in modular ways that enable pace.” 

He believes this culture of challenging norms and prioritising customer needs is what allows Amazon to maintain its innovative edge, stating: “We operate like the world’s largest startup in large part because of our culture of Why.”