Amazon said on Oct. 28 that it is cutting thousands of corporate jobs, confirming reports that began circulating Monday.

A memo that was shared with employees and posted on its website said the tech giant is targeting "an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles."

The letter was signed by Beth Galetti, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology.

As of December 2024, Amazon had about 1.5 million full- and part-time employees, according to its annual report. Its corporate workforce includes roughly 350,000 employees.

On Oct. 27, CNBC and Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported that Amazon would be cutting up to 30,000 corporate jobs.

Here's what we know about the cuts.

How many Amazon employees are getting laid off and when?

According to the memo, the layoffs impact 14,000 corporate employees.

Most of the impacted employees will be offered 90 days to look for a new role within the company. Others who don't remain with Amazon will be offered severance pay and other transition benefits, the memo said.

Reuters reported that affected workers received emails on the morning of Oct. 28 notifying them that their job had been cut.

When contacted by USA TODAY on Oct. 28, Amazon did not share additional details about the timing of layoffs.

Why is Amazon laying off employees?

Galetti said in the memo that the cuts are "further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources" but acknowledged that "some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well."

"We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business," Galetti wrote.

She also cited the prevalence of artificial intelligence, saying it is "enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before."

Is AI impacting Amazon's workforce?

The Oct. 28 memo also cited an announcement earlier this year that said the company expected to cut jobs as it continues implementing generative AI "in the next few years."

"As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs," a June 17 memo signed by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said.

Jassy said at the time that the company expected to reduce its corporate workforce "as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company."

Job cuts follow NYT report about replacing people with robots

The latest job cuts come days after The New York Times reported on Oct. 21 that Amazon is apparently pushing to add robotic automation to its workforce, which could prevent up to 600,000 new hires.

Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Amazon, told the Times that the documents it reviewed for the report "did not represent the company’s overall hiring strategy."

The layoffs also come on the heels of the tech giant being revealed as one of the donors for President Donald Trump's controversial White House ballroom. The White House did not reveal how much Amazon donated to the now $300 million project.

This story was updated to add new information.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.

Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon layoffs target 14,000 corporate jobs. What we know about the cuts.

Reporting by Melina Khan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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