Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has sent a memo to employees, warning that AI will likely lead to job cuts at the company. The CEO’s comments sparked backlash from employees, given the company’s recent commitment to invest around $105 billion in AI upgrades.
In the memo, Jassy wrote: “As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”
“It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
With Amazon’s new upgrades, “We’ll be able to focus less on rote work and more on thinking strategically about how to improve customer experiences and invent new ones,” Jassy concluded.
Tech rival Microsoft is also reportedly planning to cut thousands of jobs in the coming months as part of its latest effort to reduce its workforce amid significant investments in artificial intelligence, which include an $80 billion investment to expand its AI data centers.
Between 2022 and 2023, Amazon cut over 27,000 jobs. This year, the company let go of another 100 employees as Jassy moved to drastically reduce “middle management.”
By CEO NA Editorial Staff