Update: Amazon has denied reports of a May layoff round, with a spokesperson saying the claims are “false and not based in fact.”Amazon may not be done yet with layoffs. Reports circulating on job forum Blind and Chinese-language tech portal Lei Feng Network suggest that the company is gearing up for another significant round of layoffs in May 2026—this time affecting roughly 14,000 employees across multiple divisions, including AWS, retail, and human resources. The company, however, is pushing back hard. “These reports are false and not based in fact,” a company spokesperson said.A Blind post attributed to someone with apparent insider access warned that the cuts would come alongside “a lot of restructuring,” though exact dates are still unclear. The source noted that information is being held far more tightly this time around, with greater scrutiny over who knows what.
Mid-Level managers and white-collar workers could Be hit hardest in Amazon’s next round of layoffs
The Lei Feng Network report says the May cuts will primarily hit white-collar employees and middle management at job levels L5 through L7. Warehouse and logistics workers are expected to be spared, for now. Some teams in China could face complete elimination.The rationale follows a pattern Amazon has leaned on repeatedly: pandemic-era overhiring, AI replacing certain functions, and relentless pressure to get leaner. Jassy laid the groundwork for this over a year ago, writing in a June 2025 memo to staff that as AI becomes embedded across the company, “we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today.”
Amazon has cut 30,000 corporate jobs since October 2025
The May round, if it happens, would be Amazon’s third major wave of layoffs in under a year. In October 2025, the company eliminated around 14,000 corporate roles as part of CEO Andy Jassy’s push to reduce management layers and cut bureaucracy. Another 16,000 followed in January 2026. After that second round, HR chief Beth Galetti told employees that sweeping layoffs every few months wasn’t the plan—but stopped short of ruling out further cuts.Stack that on top of the 27,000 jobs Amazon cut between 2022 and 2023, and the total comes to well over 57,000 corporate roles gone in roughly three years.
CEO Andy Jassy is betting big on AI while shrinking Amazon’s corporate headcount
The tension at the heart of all this is hard to miss. Amazon is forecasting $125 billion in capital expenditure for 2026—the highest among any megacap company—most of it going toward AI infrastructure and data centers. The company is spending more than ever, just on machines rather than people.Jassy’s vision is essentially a smaller, faster Amazon: fewer managers, flatter hierarchies, and AI doing the heavy lifting on tasks that once required large teams. Whether that vision includes another 14,000 departures in May remains unconfirmed—but the direction of travel has been consistent for a while now.
