US technology giant Amazon has confirmed a new wave of global layoffs, triggering significant concern among employees after a draft email was inadvertently shared. The email, composed by Colleen Aubrey, a senior vice president at Amazon Web Services (AWS), was mistakenly included in a calendar invitation sent to various employees. The unexpected leak pointed to layoffs affecting workers in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica, as part of an initiative aimed at “strengthening the company.”
The email detailed that the layoffs were part of ongoing efforts to streamline operations and reduce bureaucracy within Amazon, emphasizing the need to move faster to benefit customers. It stated, “This is a continuation of the work we’ve been doing for more than a year to strengthen the company by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” This communication, which came as a shock, was quickly retracted, and an Amazon spokesman chose not to comment on the matter.
The calendar invitation bore the title “Send project Dawn email,” seemingly a code reference to this recent round of job cuts. Although the email confirmed pending layoffs, employees were left without official notification regarding the extent of the cuts.
Amazon previously announced a reduction of 14,000 jobs in late October, and many employees had anticipated this second wave of layoffs. A former employee, who wished to remain anonymous, indicated that there was a general consensus among workers that the company aimed to eliminate around 30,000 positions in total. The expectation was that this goal would be met through multiple rounds of layoffs extending into the upcoming months.
While the company has allowed laid-off employees to apply for open roles, the availability of such positions remains limited. Severance packages are being offered to those who do not find new roles, calculated based on their tenure at the company.
Since 2022, numerous major tech corporations, including Meta, Google, and Microsoft, have significantly downsized their workforces, resulting in an estimated 700,000 layoffs throughout the industry over the past four years, as tracked by Layoffs.fyi. This year alone, Meta has announced further headcount reductions impacting several hundred employees, along with Pinterest, which recently cut about 700 jobs.
Under the leadership of Andy Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO, Amazon has experienced several rounds of layoffs throughout 2023, 2024, and likely into 2025. Jassy has been actively working to impose a stricter workplace culture, mandating that employees return to the office five days a week—one of the few major tech firms still enforcing a full-time office presence.
In addition to workforce reductions, Amazon is also implementing cost-cutting measures across various departments. Reports indicate that the company is scrutinizing the usage of corporate mobile phones by AWS employees, aiming to limit a previously established reimbursement of $50 per month. In a recent email to staff prior to Thanksgiving, Jassy expressed gratitude for the opportunities and challenges faced at the company and remarked on the need to “rethink everything we’ve ever done” in light of rapid changes in the world.
On the same day, Amazon announced the closure of its remaining 70 Amazon-branded grocery stores, including Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, with plans to focus on expanding its Whole Foods Market business. This move reflects the company’s increasingly aggressive strategy to reassess and redefine its operational landscape amid ongoing economic uncertainties.
