Amazon is planning to cut about 15% of its workforce in human resources, as the technology job market weakens and AI becomes a key tool to increase operational efficiency.
Amazon's human resources department, locally known as "Human Experience Technology" (PXT), currently has more than 10,000 employees worldwide, including recruitment teams, technology and related positions.
The upcoming salary cut is expected to have the biggest impact on the PXT group, but employees in some other departments, especially core consumer businesses, may also be affected.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stressed in a letter to 1.5 million employees in June that widespread AI adoption would help the company achieve higher efficiency, but reduce the total workforce as we achieve efficiency.
Mr. Jassy affirmed that employees who are willing to adapt to AI and participate in internal AI capacity development will be well-positioned to make a big impact, while some current jobs will require less human resources thanks to automation.
This cut comes as many large technology companies are restructuring their workforce by leveraging AI while still investing heavily in data centers and cloud computing.
Amazon has spent more than $100 billion this year on AI and cloud data centers, demonstrating its ambition to lead the global AI race.
Jassy has previously overseen the largest salary cut in Amazons history, as the company cut at least 27,000 jobs, along with layoffs at consumer goods, Wondery and AWS earlier this year.
At the same time, Amazon is still planning to recruit more than 250,000 seasonal staff at warehouses and logistics networks in the US to serve the holiday season.
This move reflects Amazon's dual strategy of optimizing its workforce thanks to AI, while ensuring the development of technology infrastructure to maintain long-term competitiveness in the digital age.
