Amazon is signaling a major shift in its employment landscape, warning that its corporate workforce will shrink in the coming years as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply integrated across operations. In a blog post shared with employees on Tuesday, CEO Andy Jassy said the company expects efficiency gains from generative AI to reduce the need for many current jobs while creating demand for new, more AI-aligned roles.
“As we roll out more generative AI and intelligent 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.”
While Jassy didn’t specify which roles would be most affected or how many positions might be eliminated, he said that in the next few years, Amazon anticipates a net reduction in its corporate workforce due to AI-driven efficiencies.
Jassy also noted that the shift won’t be unique to Amazon. He predicted the widespread rise of AI-powered agents in virtually every sector, describing a future where billions of these tools change the way businesses and individuals operate. “Many of these agents have yet to be built, but make no mistake, they’re coming — and coming fast,” he said.
He encouraged employees to view AI not as a threat, but as “teammates we can call on” at various stages of work — tools that will become increasingly capable as they learn from experience.
Jassy’s remarks come amid growing debate in the tech industry over AI’s potential to displace workers. Last month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could eliminate up to half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, potentially driving unemployment rates as high as 20%. Critics argue these forecasts lack robust data and largely come from those who stand to profit most from AI’s adoption.
Economists like Daniel Zhao, senior manager at Glassdoor’s economic research team, agree that AI will reshape the labor market — but caution that its current impact is difficult to isolate. “The economy and the job market have slowed, and it makes it difficult to disentangle how much of that is being driven by AI,” Zhao said, adding that economic uncertainty is still the likely driver of the recent slowdown in hiring.
While the full impact of AI remains uncertain, Amazon’s message is clear: the future of work at the tech giant — and far beyond it — will be increasingly shaped by machines that are getting smarter, faster, and more capable by the day.