TLDR
- Amazon accidentally sent AWS staff an email Tuesday revealing Wednesday’s planned layoff announcement
- Senior VP Colleen Aubrey’s premature message referenced “Project Dawn” and was immediately recalled
- Approximately 30,000 corporate jobs will be cut across AWS, retail, Prime Video and HR departments
- The cuts build on 14,000 October layoffs tied to AI adoption and reducing management bureaucracy
- Amazon separately announced Tuesday it’s shuttering Fresh and Go stores to focus on Whole Foods
Amazon tried to keep a secret Tuesday. It didn’t work out.
An email went to AWS employees that evening. It contained details about layoffs planned for the next day. Someone sent it too soon.
Colleen Aubrey wrote the message. She holds a senior vice president role in Amazon’s cloud business. The email said affected workers had been notified already.
They hadn’t. The whole thing was a mistake. A Wednesday meeting got pulled from calendars almost instantly. Workers started sharing the news in company Slack channels.
“Changes like this are hard on everyone,” Aubrey wrote. She said the choices were made to prepare AWS for what comes next.
The email mentioned “Project Dawn.” That’s what Amazon calls these layoffs internally. The company hasn’t said anything publicly about the error.
Reuters reported Friday that cuts were coming. Amazon still hasn’t made it official.
Jobs Disappearing Across the Company
AWS isn’t the only division losing people. The cuts stretch across Amazon’s corporate structure.
Retail teams will see eliminations. So will Prime Video and human resources. The total could hit 30,000 positions.
Amazon cut 14,000 jobs in October. This is the second wave of that plan. Those 30,000 jobs equal about 10% of corporate staff.
Andy Jassy gave reasons for the cuts last year. The CEO wants fewer bosses and less internal complexity. He said in June that AI would naturally shrink the corporate team over time.
Beth Galetti handles HR at Amazon. She wrote about October’s cuts in a post. She said more reductions would probably happen. Tuesday’s email mentioned that post, but it’s not on Amazon’s website yet.
Grocery Teams Also Getting Smaller
Amazon made another announcement Tuesday about its food business. Fresh stores and Go markets are closing down.
Money will go to Whole Foods locations instead. Online grocery delivery will get more resources too. Jason Buechel runs the grocery division. He said Amazon needs to pick its battles better.
The grocery restructuring cut jobs Tuesday. Amazon didn’t share numbers.
All this happens right before earnings day. Amazon reports results for the fourth quarter on February 5.
Amazon has 1.58 million total workers. Most of them pack boxes and drive trucks. Corporate cuts only touch a fraction of the workforce.
The email mistake put Amazon in a tough spot. Companies like to control how layoff news gets out. Amazon lost control through an accident.
The email said impacted employees in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica would be told Wednesday morning. Now those workers had Tuesday night to worry about what was coming.
Amazon runs a massive operation with offices worldwide. Coordinating a big layoff announcement across time zones is tricky. One premature email made it trickier.
