The layoffs of more than 16,000 corporate workers at Amazon are part of an internal strategy to transform the company into the “largest startup in the world.”This was explained by company executives in internal memos to which Business Insider had access, in which they justify the staff reduction as a necessary step to reorganize the structure and accelerate decision-making.
“Our ambition is to be the largest startup in the world,” executives said in two similar statements sent to Amazon WebServices (AWS) teams.In the documents, management maintains that this objective involves reinforcing a culture based on individual ownership, speed and experimentation, which requires the company to “continue to evolve its organizational structure.”
The idea of operating like a large startup has become one of the axes of the mandate of Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, who has reiterated this concept in various internal messages and in his most recent letter to shareholders.In that document, Jassy highlighted the need to maintain agility and entrepreneurial mindset despite the company’s global size.
The memos were signed by Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of AmazonWeb Services, and Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of the company.Both texts share almost identical language, suggesting a common corporate guideline on how to communicate layoffs to affected teams.
Among the highlights in the messages it is confirmed that notifications to employees have already been completed in the United States and Canada.In addition, executives recognize that changes are difficult and close the communications with a message focused on the future and the objectives of the teams that remain in the company.
The memos also include explicit references to support for affected workers.In both cases it is mentioned that the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to offer free and confidential support.“Please take care of yourselves and each other,” is repeated verbatim in the documents.
Other Amazon executives also spoke out internally about the layoffs.Greg Pearson, vice president of AWS, urged employees to “use technology to simplify work.”This message reinforces the narrative that automation and operational efficiency are central pillars of the company’s new approach.
In addition to the memos, Amazon distributed additional information to laid-off employees through FAQ sections and emails sent by Beth Galetti, the company’s chief human resources officer.These messages detail aspects related to compensation, temporary benefits and exit processes.
Internal Slack messages reviewed by Business Insider indicate that the layoffs affected multiple strategic areas of the company.Among them are Amazon Web Services teams linked to key services such as Bedrock, the cloud artificial intelligence platform;Redshift, the data storage service;and ProServe, the consulting area for business clients.
Teams in Amazon’s retail business were also impacted, including those linked to the Prime subscription service and the last-mile delivery experience, one of the most sensitive areas for the company’s logistics operation.
Amazon has not presented the layoffs as a direct response to a decline in business, but as part of a restructuring process aimed at reducing hierarchical layers and speeding up execution.With this strategy, the company seeks to maintain its competitiveness in a context marked by cost pressure, the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence and growing competition in the cloud and e-commerce.
