Amazon to cut around 14,000 corporate jobs including roles in its games division

• The layoffs continue efforts to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy.
• It’s unclear exactly how many gaming staff will be impacted across its studios.
• AI and automation appear to be driving Amazon’s latest restructuring push.
• Amazon says most affected employees will get 90 days to find new internal roles.

Amazon has revealed plans to lay off about 14,000 corporate employees including workers from its games division.

The company's SVP of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, confirmed the layoffs in a message to staff, saying the move is part of efforts to streamline operations and function more like the “world’s largest startup.”

She praised employees for helping streamline Amazon by cutting layers, boosting ownership, and reducing bureaucracy, noting these efforts have already made teams faster and more effective.

“The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further 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," said Galetti.

“While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles," she added. 

It remains uncertain how many of its gaming staff were affected by the layoffs. However, Bloomberg reported that “significant” cuts will impact its Irvine and San Diego offices, as well as its central publishing division. 

Amazon also plans to scale back its focus on large-scale projects, especially big-budget and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.

AI-driven layoffs?

Galetti’s remarks about Amazon cutting roles despite strong performance suggest that automation and AI could be reshaping the company’s structure. 

“Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well," she continued. “Across our businesses, we're delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results. 

“What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). 

“We’re convinced 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," said Galetti. 

Amazon will support affected employees by giving the majority 90 days to find new roles internally, with recruiting teams prioritising internal candidates where possible.

This follows an earlier report that Amazon plans to cut up to 30,000 corporate roles as part of broader cost-cutting measures aimed at addressing overhiring during the pandemic’s surge in demand.