Amazon confirmed on Tuesday that it will cut 14,000 jobs as the US tech giant seeks to streamline its bureaucracy and replace parts of its workforce with artificial intelligence.
The e-commerce giant said that the layoffs would begin this week, with the communications department having already issued internal notices to affected employees.
In a statement, Amazon explained that the move was aimed at “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs.“
The company said dismissed employees will have 90 days to find another position within Amazon, though it did not specify which departments would be affected.
In June, CEO Jesse Jassy had warned that the growing use of AI within the company would likely result in job losses, particularly among workers performing routine, repetitive tasks.
According to internal documents seen by The New York Times, Amazon is reportedly considering replacing up to 500,000 employees with robots in the coming years.
