"CEO Andy Jassy had hinted this was coming back in June, when he said that AI's capabilities would allow Amazon to shrink its white-collar workforce in the future. But he'd framed that future as "the next few years." I figured Amazon would get there the same way it had already been: by hiring very little and quietly cutting a few teams here and there."
"Apparently, Amazon is done waiting. It's shifted its AI workforce strategy from slow attrition to full throttle. And with that, it's ushering in a new era of post-ChatGPT corporate America: the age of mass AI layoffs. Why the sudden leap? One obvious factor that went unmentioned in the announcement is Amazon's position in the ever-heightening winner-takes-all AI race. It's scrambling to keep up with Microsoft and Google's cloud businesses, which are growing faster than its own."
"Amazon's official rationale is that AI is "enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before." Because of that, an HR executive explained, the company needs to be "organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible." That sounds a little different from "AI's taking 10% of our jobs," but I think it's effectively the same thing."
Amazon announced layoffs of 14,000 corporate employees with plans that could affect up to 30,000 white-collar roles. CEO Andy Jassy had previously said AI could allow shrinking the white-collar workforce over the next few years. The company shifted from gradual attrition to aggressive cuts, framing the move as a response to AI and the need to compete with Microsoft and Google's faster-growing cloud businesses. Amazon aims to free cash to hire AI experts and build data centers. Executives say AI enables faster innovation and requires a leaner organizational structure, though deep cuts risk overburdening remaining staff.
Read at Business Insider
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