Thousands of Amazon employees received unexpected text messages early Tuesday morning informing them that they had been laid off before even reaching their offices. According to sources and screenshots reviewed by Business Insider, some messages directed workers to check their personal or work email, while others asked them to contact the help desk for clarification about their employment status.
The layoffs are part of Amazon’s plan to cut about 14,000 corporate positions as it restructures to boost efficiency and sharpen its focus on artificial intelligence. Most affected U.S. employees were retail managers. In an internal memo, HR head Beth Galetti said those impacted would receive full pay and benefits for 90 days along with severance. She later wrote in a blog post that rapid AI advances had prompted the move, calling AI the most transformative technology since the Internet.
Since the pandemic, Amazon has been streamlining operations, cutting costs, and reducing its workforce. Similar efficiency-driven layoffs have been announced by other tech giants, including Microsoft and Meta, as automation reshapes the industry.
