Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says the company’s workforce will shrink in the next few years thanks to AI handling more tasks.
Jassy sent an email to employees Tuesday explaining how generative AI and AI-powered software agents will change work at Amazon. He warned AI will reduce the need for some jobs while creating demand for others, but overall, the corporate headcount will drop.
Amazon is no stranger to automation. It already uses AI for inventory, customer service, product listings, and Alexa+ voice tools. Jassy encouraged employees to experiment with AI aggressively. 
“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy wrote.
“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.”
Amazon has 1.56 million total employees, with about 350,000 in corporate roles. This announcement signals a push to leverage AI for deep cost and efficiency gains in those positions.
Other tech companies are cutting jobs for similar reasons. Shopify now requires justification for new hires if AI can do the work. Duolingo plans to drop contractors replaced by AI. Microsoft has laid off software engineers citing AI savings.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently warned AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and push unemployment as high as 20% in five years.
Amazon is doubling down on AI investments across retail and AWS, betting on massive workforce shifts soon. This comes as AI tools grow more capable of replacing traditional office roles.
