Amazon CEO Warns AI Could Lead to Corporate Job Cuts
Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy has cautioned white-collar employees that advances in artificial intelligence could lead to job reductions within the company over the next several years.
In a memo sent to staff, Jassy said that the growing use of generative AI tools — including autonomous AI agents and chatbots — is expected to significantly change how work is done at Amazon. As a result, some roles may no longer be necessary.
“As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” Jassy wrote. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs. It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce.”
Amazon employs around 1.5 million people globally, with roughly 350,000 in corporate roles such as software development, product management, and marketing.
Jassy’s remarks come amid a broader conversation about AI’s impact on the workforce. Over the weekend, BT’s chief executive warned of potential deeper job cuts at the telecoms giant due to AI, while Dario Amodei, CEO of AI firm Anthropic, recently suggested that up to half of all entry-level office jobs could be eliminated by the technology.
Jassy predicted a near future filled with AI agents that will operate across industries and in everyday life. “There will be billions of these agents, across every company and in every imaginable field,” he wrote. “There will also be agents that routinely do things for you outside of work, from shopping to travel to daily chores and tasks. Many of these agents have yet to be built, but make no mistake, they’re coming — and coming fast.”
He urged Amazon employees to engage proactively with the technology. “Be curious about AI,” Jassy said, encouraging staff to pursue AI training and stay informed. “Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally, and deliver for customers will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company.”
Research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that AI could put skilled white-collar professions — including those in law, medicine, and finance — at risk. The International Monetary Fund estimates that around 60% of jobs in advanced economies such as the US and UK are exposed to AI, with half of those potentially negatively affected.
However, the Tony Blair Institute has argued that widespread AI adoption could also create new opportunities, even as it displaces up to 3 million private sector jobs in the UK. The organisation suggests that the overall impact may be balanced out by the emergence of new roles driven by the technology.
