US e-commerce giant Amazon announced Wednesday that it plans to cut another 16,000 jobs in a bid to reduce red tape and free up funds for plans to invest extensively in AI.

“The reductions we are making today will impact approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon, and we’re again working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted,” Amazon said in a statement.

In October, the company laid off 14,000 corporate employees.

“While we’re making these changes, we’ll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future. We’re still in the early stages of building every one of our businesses and there’s significant opportunity ahead,” Amazon said.

“Just as we always have, every team will continue to evaluate the ownership, speed, and capacity to invent for customers, and make adjustments as appropriate,” said Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology. “That’s never been more important than it is today in a world that’s changing faster than ever.”

Amazon had 1.578 million employees as of the third quarter of 2025. The majority of these were hourly employees in its warehouses and will not be directly impacted by the new layoffs.