Under the pressure of AI spending, Amazon's cloud computing division AWS is laying off employees
Amazon is cutting employees in its cloud computing division AWS, affected by rising costs of artificial intelligence (AI). Spokesperson Brad Glasser confirmed that the layoffs involve multiple teams and stated that this is a difficult business decision made after a comprehensive review. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has mentioned that the number of employees is expected to decrease in the coming years. This round of layoffs will affect hundreds of people, but the specific number has not been disclosed
According to Zhitong Finance APP, Amazon (AMZN.US) is cutting jobs in its cloud computing division AWS, making it the latest large tech company to lay off employees amid soaring costs in artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser confirmed on Thursday that the layoffs will affect multiple teams within AWS.
In a statement via email, he said, "After a comprehensive review of our organization, priorities, and what we need to focus on in the future, we had to make the difficult business decision to reduce some positions in certain teams within AWS. We did not make these decisions lightly, and we are committed to supporting our employees throughout this transition. These decisions are necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers."
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in June that he expects the company's workforce to decrease over the next few years as the company leverages artificial intelligence to handle more work.
Earlier this month, Microsoft (MSFT.US), which has also invested heavily in AI, began layoffs affecting about 9,000 employees, marking the company's second large-scale layoff this year.
Insiders indicate that Amazon's layoffs will impact hundreds of people. The company declined to disclose the specific number of layoffs.
Amazon is the largest private employer in the U.S. after Walmart (WMT.US), with 1.56 million employees as of the end of March. Most of these employees work in warehouses, responsible for packaging and shipping items, but over 350,000 are engaged in internal company roles
