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New Delhi: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said that the company’s recent decision to lay off 14,000 corporate employees is not about cutting costs or replacing people with artificial intelligence (AI), but about keeping Amazon’s culture “nimble and startup-like.”Speaking on Thursday, Jassy explained that the layoffs were not financially driven and were not connected to AI, at least not directly. “The announcement that we made a few days ago was not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now, at least,” he said. “Really, it’s culture.”His comments come after widespread speculation that the layoffs were part of a restructuring move to make space for more automation and AI-powered operations. Earlier this year, Jassy had written to employees saying he expected Amazon’s corporate workforce to shrink over time as AI improved efficiency across teams.However, this time, Jassy made it clear that the job cuts are meant to streamline leadership and decision-making, not replace workers with technology. He said that as Amazon continues to grow, it risks becoming slower and more bureaucratic, something he wants to avoid.“It can lead to slowing you down as a leadership team,” he said. “We are committed to operating like the world’s largest startup, and that means removing layers.”Amazon’s total workforce peaked at over 1.6 million employees in 2021, during the pandemic boom, when e-commerce demand was at its highest. By the end of last year, that number had dropped to about 1.5 million, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The latest round of cuts primarily affects corporate roles and is part of a broader effort to make Amazon leaner and faster in its decision-making. The company states that it still plans to invest heavily in AI and other advanced technologies, but these layoffs are intended to preserve agility and culture rather than for cost-cutting purposes.Read More: Workers, Family and Friends React as Amazon Lays Off ...
