The unemployment wave of 2026 is coming fiercely and powerfully

According to an official statement by Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Technology at Amazon, the company is undergoing an organizational restructuring, with an expected reduction of about 16,000 positions.

Galetti emphasized the reasons for the layoffs, stating that Amazon is committed to strengthening organizational effectiveness by streamlining management levels, reinforcing accountability, and eliminating bureaucratic processes. She said, "Many teams completed their organizational adjustments in October last year, but some teams have only completed this work now."

The company denies that cyclical layoffs will become normalized. Galetti wrote in an official blog post: "This is not part of our future plans - announcing large-scale layoffs every few months. This is based on our continuous assessment of each team's responsibilities, execution speed, and ability to innovate for customers, and making adjustments when necessary."

By dawn, countless Amazon employees began waiting for news, fearing they would become part of the "unemployed".

Some employees received layoff notices that very night. One employee said, "Knowing I was laid off, I couldn't sleep all night."

Others learned of their layoffs the next day. A former Amazon employee said, "I came to work early in the morning and found my permissions gone; our department was completely cut." According to this employee, they were from the FBA department in Chengdu.

Another employee said, "I woke up in the morning and swiped my phone, seeing my personal email 'welcoming' the layoff... According to the email time, it was also received in the early morning."

The layoff email read: After a comprehensive review of Amazon's organization, priorities, and future areas of focus, difficult business decisions have been made to reduce some positions within Amazon. Unfortunately, your position has also been cut due to these changes, and your employment relationship will terminate after the notice period.

In the email, Amazon also offered support during the transition:

A non-working period with full salary and benefits;

A severance compensation plan and transitional benefits;

External employment placement support and 12 months of free AWS SkillBuilder usage rights.

Some employees even said, "I've been following the news of Amazon layoffs these days, and I received an email early this morning. It turns out it was me who was laid off. Now I can finally put my mind at ease."

Amazon's layoffs are not an isolated event. As early as October 2025, Amazon announced the reduction of about 14,000 positions, involving multiple core departments such as human resources, cloud computing, advertising, and devices and services. At that time, the company explained that the move aimed to streamline levels, allocate resources, and ensure investment focused on the most important business areas.

It is reported that this round of layoffs is mainly aimed at "office employees". Insiders revealed that this round of layoffs will affect positions in Amazon's cloud computing service AWS, retail, Prime Video, and human resources department (i.e., "People Experience and Technology Team"), but the specific scope of impact is not yet clear.

These two rounds of layoffs together constitute the largest employee reduction plan in Amazon's history. As of January 2026, the company has cut a total of 30,000 corporate positions in just three months.