Usman Salis
Amazon is preparing to cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs starting this Tuesday—the largest layoff in the company's history. This massive restructuring signals a major strategy shift for one of the world's most valuable companies and could have significant ripple effects across the tech industry and labor markets.
Historic Workforce Reduction
According to Stock Sharks, Amazon plans to eliminate up to 30,000 corporate positions across multiple divisions—far exceeding any previous job cuts. This would be the company's biggest workforce shake-up since the pandemic and one of the largest single layoffs in tech since 2020.
Amazon currently has around 350,000 corporate employees and over 1.5 million total workers worldwide, including warehouse staff. While Amazon hasn't officially commented, the scale suggests a serious effort to cut costs and refocus priorities as economic conditions tighten.
Why the Cuts Are Happening
Amazon's move mirrors a broader shift in Big Tech as companies adapt to slower growth, rising AI demands, and tighter profit margins after years of rapid expansion.
Main Drivers:
Cost Pressures: Rising logistics and infrastructure expenses have squeezed profits, especially in retail and AWS cloud services.
AI Pivot: Amazon is redirecting resources toward artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced computing—critical areas for staying competitive.
Economic Headwinds: Higher interest rates, ongoing inflation, and weaker consumer spending are forcing major companies to streamline and protect earnings.
This restructuring is part of an industry-wide trend where even the biggest players are rethinking their growth strategies.
Stock Chart: AMZN Near Key Technical Levels
Amazon's stock chart shows the company approaching critical support and resistance zones just before the layoff news. After months of gains, momentum appears to be stalling as investors grow cautious.
Technical Overview:
Support: Strong base around $165–$170, tested multiple times this quarter.
Resistance: $190 remains a psychological barrier with recurring selling pressure.
Volume: Heavier selling on down days suggests institutional investors are taking profits.
Trend: Flattening moving averages point to a neutral-to-bearish short-term outlook unless the stock breaks decisively above $190.
The layoffs may cause short-term volatility, but markets could eventually view the move as a smart profitability play once cost savings show up in quarterly results.
Tech Sector Context: The Second Wave
Amazon's announcement fits into a second wave of tech layoffs rolling through the industry in 2025. Meta, Alphabet, Salesforce, and Microsoft have all announced fresh cuts as they rebalance staffing and pour money into AI.
But Amazon's scale stands out. Potentially affecting tens of thousands of workers, this could be one of the largest single layoff events since the early pandemic. While these moves can strengthen balance sheets, they also risk hurting morale and slowing innovation.
Usman Salis
