Amazon opens a new page in its history, but it is not one that is read lightly. According to what was communicated by Beth Galetti, manager responsible for human resources, the giant founded by Jeff Bezos will make 14 thousand layoffs, with the declared aim of “reducing costs” and rebalancing the hiring made during the pandemic. This is the largest staff cut in the history of the company, which had already eliminated 27 thousand positions between 2022 and 2023.
According to the New York Times, up to 160,000 jobs could disappear by 2027. A figure that tells the extent of a profound change, destined to redesign the face of technological work.
Behind the formula “cost optimization” lies another, much more decisive element: artificial intelligence. The CEO had already anticipated months ago that some of the staff would be replaced by “less demanding and more efficient colleagues”. In other words, algorithms and robots capable of carrying out logistical, management and even decision-making tasks with a speed and precision that is out of reach for humans.
In the same days as the cuts plan, Amazon announced new “tactile” automation systems: machines capable of recognizing materials and surfaces to speed up work in warehouses. The stated goal is to automate up to 75% of operations, with an estimated saving of billions of dollars per year. But the social price of this efficiency risks being very high.
The first wave of layoffs is expected to hit office workers – human resources, advertising, management – ​​but automation won’t stop there. Warehouses, the pulsating center of Amazon logistics, will soon be affected by change. And while the machines are gaining ground, American unions are once again making themselves heard: pickets and protests are already underway in front of distribution centers, such as the one in San Francisco (DCK6).
Amazon is not an isolated case. Microsoft and Meta are also reducing staff: the former has planned 15 thousand cuts, the latter has fired 600 people in its artificial intelligence division. All signs of a trend that affects the entire tech sector, where AI is no longer an experimental project but an industrial strategy.
The issue is not just about the number of jobs lost, but about the very nature of work. Artificial intelligence enters roles previously considered “protected”, changing the skills required and reducing the human centrality in processes. If automation can free up energy and simplify repetitive tasks, its massive adoption without a retraining plan risks generating a new form of inequality: between those who know how to manage the machines and those who are replaced by them.
