The AI-related layoffs at Amazon and some other firms reflect a "hollowing out of middle-skilled workers," Lynn Wu, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania, told ABC News.

Business Insider's reporters walk through the big layoffs at Amazon, why the cuts came, and who could be next.

Amazon is set to slash thousands of corporate jobs starting Oct. 28, according to multiple reports. The impending corporate layoffs amount to the largest such job reduction in the company's history, CNBC and Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.

The notification with Amazon’s entire list is online at the state’s WARN site. Separately, a regional delivery service partner with Amazon has filed a layoff notice with the state Department of Employment Security, eliminating more than 100 jobs.

Amazon announced Tuesday that it plans to cut 14,000 corporate jobs as part of a broader effort to become leaner in an era shaped by AI.

The Amazon layoffs likely reflect a “strategic ‘talent remix,’ ” say researchers at Gartner. It appears the organization is “reallocating resources to high-priority business areas, rather than [the layoffs] directly resulting from AI-driven productivity gains.”

On social media and elsewhere, impacted employees and others reacted to Amazon's decision to cut 14,000 corporate and tech workers across numerous divisions.

One chart shows how Amazon's workforce surged during the pandemic and Great Resignation. The new corporate layoffs are a small share of its employees.

Amazon — a company that made more than $35 billion in profit in the first half of 2025 and is on track to spend more than $120 billion on AI this year — is laying off tens of thousands of people, citing its desire to slim down and “operate like the world’s largest startup.”

Amazon employs around 1.5 million globally, though most work in logistics. On the corporate side, it has around 350,000 people on its books, so the expected layoffs represent nearly 10% of that part of its team.

Amid sweeping layoffs that began throughout ecommerce giant Amazon Tuesday, the company is making "significant" changes to its video games business.

The company's latest Middle-earth project is scrapped as Amazon Games retreats from MMOs, struggling to find a fresh hook that could set its take on Tolkien's world apart.