By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Amazon is reportedly preparing for a second wave of layoffs, aiming to eliminate approximately 10% of its corporate workforce, which could impact around 30,000 employees. This follows previous cuts in October and would mark the largest layoffs in the company’s history. The job cuts, potentially starting soon, may affect various departments, including Amazon Web Services, retail, and Prime Video. While initially linked to the rise of artificial intelligence, CEO Andy Jassy later attributed the layoffs to organizational inefficiencies and excessive bureaucracy.
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Amazon to cut thousands of jobs in sweeping corporate layoffs. This is the reality we’re facing, and it’s hitting hard. It feels like the internet, but this time, the “transformative” power is about streamlining human labor out of the equation. We’re talking about potentially 30,000 lives impacted. It’s hard not to see the irony in the rise of technology potentially diminishing the ability of people to participate in the economy.
The potential for this to impact the average person is really quite stark. We’re left wondering how folks will be able to afford the basic necessities when the very jobs that provide that ability are becoming less prevalent. It’s tough to ignore the value being created for shareholders while the broader population deals with job displacement.
We’re even more aware of the lack of a proper plan in America for the employment situation when so many white-collar jobs are being replaced by artificial intelligence. The feeling of invincibility everyone has now, thinking “it won’t happen to me,” is already showing cracks. In ten years, the landscape of corporate jobs might look vastly different, but the billionaires will still claim they can’t handle a tax increase.
Think about how a 10% reduction in the workforce can translate into a claimed increase in profits due to AI. Even if, in reality, nothing substantial has been done with the technology itself, it provides a convenient method for boosting profits. It’s like a magic profit booster for CEOs, a way to sell a narrative of efficiency to investors, and to make it look like they are embracing innovation, when really it is just cost cutting. Any CEO not making use of this “magic profit booster” is now automatically behind the curve.
Automation and AI taking over jobs should be a positive thing, right? Higher wages and shorter workdays for the working class. But the reality is that it’s all too often reduced to joblessness, poverty, and further enrichment for those at the top. It’s tough to witness the constant “winning” that seems to only benefit a select few. Amazon lays off staff, profits decline because there are fewer people with jobs to buy Amazon products. It’s a cycle that seems to have no end. If you’re using Amazon, now’s the time to cut them. Banks might start following suit, and all the corporate overhead will be slashed.
We used to value companies with a solid strategy. The layoffs signal a failure of planning, even after spending on projects like a Melania Trump documentary. We’re seeing the “Melania Layoffs” becoming a reality. The space yacht has to be paid for somehow. Perhaps selling off projects will help.
I remember hearing about the layoffs in Amazon’s WFS team. It felt risky to leave back then, but now it feels like a stroke of luck. It’s easy to want to boycott the whole company when you see the lack of concern for the workers. What happens when no one has money to buy their products? This whole cycle has no end. It feels like a mass cutting of jobs without real benefits. It’s about clearing out the bureaucracy while also taking out the institutional knowledge. One of the most profitable companies lays off 30,000 workers.
Where’s the magic switch to turn off AI taking people’s jobs? Wasn’t it supposed to improve search results? Amazon is banking on AI, and the outcome is uncertain. The likelihood of a company facing serious financial hardship in the next few years is not unreasonable.
Remember how some people were saying there wouldn’t be issues with AI? This is how it seems, right now. All Hail the Corporation! Long may the profits soar. It’s just like what Karl Marx wrote about steam engines and labor value.
They are cutting the individual contributors and keeping all the managers. Are they expecting AI to do the work of all those individual contributors? This feels like layers of managers telling AI bots what to do. The main reason for the layoffs is not AI.
It’s beginning to feel like a hostage situation. We were told we couldn’t tax them because they are job creators. Banks are next. It’s just like with the Washington Post too. It would be amazing to be the CEO of Amazon. You get to make a fortune laying people off. Bezos gets the blame, regardless. It’s a cushy gig.