Amazon May Lay Off 16,000 Employees This Week, India Teams Likely to Be Hit Hardest
Amazon May Lay Off 16,000 Employees This Week, India Teams Likely to Be Hit Hardest
Reports suggest the tech giant is preparing for a fresh global job cut wave as part of a massive restructuring drive that could push total layoffs close to 30,000
Amazon is reportedly preparing for another major round of layoffs, with around 16,000 employees expected to lose their jobs starting this week, possibly from January 27. If confirmed, this will mark the second large phase of job cuts under the company’s ongoing restructuring plan and could take the total number of eliminated corporate roles close to 30,000 by mid-2026.
According to multiple reports and discussions among employees on platforms like Blind and Reddit, the upcoming job cuts are expected to have a wide global impact. However, this time Indian teams are likely to be among the most severely affected. Employees working in key divisions such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Prime Video, retail operations, and the People Experience and Technology (PXT) division, which handles internal HR and workforce systems, are said to be at higher risk.
Amazon’s restructuring drive began in late 2025, when the company eliminated around 14,000 white-collar corporate roles in October as the first phase of a larger organisational overhaul. At that time, Reuters had reported that Amazon was planning to cut nearly 30,000 corporate jobs in total. The company later confirmed the initial round of layoffs. The expected new round of 16,000 job cuts would complete the second phase and push overall job losses close to that figure.
If this happens, it would exceed even Amazon’s massive workforce reduction of around 27,000 jobs carried out during 2022 and 2023, which was one of the largest layoff exercises in the global tech industry.
While Amazon employs approximately 1.57 million people worldwide, the focus of these cuts is on its corporate workforce, which is estimated to be around 350,000 employees. These are mainly white-collar roles in management, engineering, HR, and support functions, rather than warehouse or delivery staff.
Indian corporate teams appear particularly vulnerable in this phase. Employees based in major technology hubs such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai are believed to be facing higher uncertainty. Several reports suggest that internal notifications and early warnings may already be underway. Under US law, companies are required to issue WARN notices before mass layoffs, and earlier reports indicated that between 1,000 and 2,000 employees may have already received such notices. However, Amazon has not officially confirmed the timing or scale of the layoffs.
The reasons behind the job cuts go beyond immediate cost savings. CEO Andy Jassy has repeatedly said that these layoffs are “not really financially driven” and “not even really AI-driven.” Instead, he has described them as part of a deeper structural reform aimed at fixing company culture and reducing excessive bureaucracy.
According to Jassy, Amazon’s rapid expansion over the years created too many layers of management. These layers slowed down decision-making, reduced accountability, and affected innovation. The current restructuring is meant to flatten the organisation, remove unnecessary managerial roles, and make teams more agile.
At the same time, artificial intelligence still plays an indirect role in this transformation. Amazon has been rapidly automating internal processes in HR, customer support, and software development. As systems become more efficient, the company needs fewer administrative and coordination roles. This has made departments that support operations, rather than directly build products or platforms, more vulnerable to downsizing.
Teams like PXT, which handle recruitment, internal systems, and employee experience, are seen as especially exposed because many of their tasks are now being replaced or streamlined through automation and AI-based tools.
For employees, this creates a climate of fear and uncertainty. Many workers are waiting for official announcements, checking internal emails constantly, and preparing for sudden role eliminations. In India, where Amazon is a major employer in the tech sector, the impact could be significant, especially in cities that heavily depend on multinational technology companies for jobs.
This development also reflects a larger trend in global tech companies. After years of aggressive hiring, firms are now prioritising leaner structures, faster execution, and lower dependency on large management hierarchies. The era of unlimited tech expansion appears to be giving way to efficiency-driven models.
While Amazon has not yet released an official statement confirming the new layoffs, all signs point to a major announcement in the coming days. If the reports are accurate, thousands of employees across continents, especially in India, could soon be facing one of the most difficult moments of their careers.
