(qlmbusinessnews.com . Thu 29th Jan, 2026) London, UK —
Breaking News: Amazon Announces Major Layoffs Across US, Canada, and Costa Rica Following Email Leak
British technology behemoth Amazon has declared a sweeping reduction of 16,000 positions mere hours after inadvertently dispatching an email briefing staff on impending global cutbacks.
Dispatched in the late hours of Tuesday, the email inadvertently unveiled a series of layoffs spanning the US, Canada, and Costa Rica, framed as an initiative to “strengthen the company.” The communication was hastily annulled following its accidental release.
By Wednesday morning, Amazon had officially disclosed the job cuts, framing the move as an effort to “trim down bureaucracy” within the organisation.
Beth Galetti, the senior vice president responsible for people experience and technology at Amazon, reassured on Wednesday that the company does not foresee “broad reductions every few months.” This statement comes on the heels of Amazon's October declaration, which saw 14,000 corporate positions eliminated.
Amazon's global workforce stands at approximately 1.5 million, with corporate roles accounting for around 350,000 of these positions.
The specifics of where the recent job cuts will take place or the affected countries have not been disclosed by Amazon.
Project Dawn
A draft email from Colleen Aubrey, a high-ranking vice president at Amazon Web Services (AWS), found its way into a calendar invite dispatched by an executive assistant to numerous Amazon employees on Tuesday. The invite, bearing the title “Send project Dawn email,” alluded to the code name for the redundancy strategy without formally briefing the employees about the impending cuts.
The email elucidated that the job reductions were part of a year-long effort to “fortify the company by minimising layers, augmenting ownership, and eradicating bureaucracy to enhance agility for customers.”
Acknowledging the difficulty of such decisions, the email highlighted the thoughtful consideration given as the organization and AWS aim for future victory.
Employees had been bracing for these layoffs for weeks, revealed a former Amazon employee who preferred to remain anonymous. An underlying expectation among the workforce was the company's plan to excise approximately 30,000 roles, with the ex-employee, who was part of the October redundancy phase, confirming this target.
Further layoffs were anticipated this month, with additional reductions expected until the end of May. While affected employees were given the chance to vie for open positions within Amazon, opportunities were scarce. Departing staff were offered severance packages proportionate to their tenure at the firm.
‘Time to rethink'
Since Jeff Bezos's departure from the CEO position four years ago, his successor Andy Jassy has navigated Amazon through several cost-cutting rounds while steering the company towards a stricter work ethos.
Amazon now stands as one of the few major tech firms mandating full-time office attendance for its employees, a stark contrast to the industry's prevailing trends.
Cost reduction efforts have also extended to the monitoring of corporate mobile phone expenses amongst AWS employees, as reported by Business Insider, aimed at curtailing the longstanding reimbursement of $50 per month.
In an email to staff predating the Thanksgiving holiday, Jassy expressed gratitude for the “challenges at opportunities at work,” recognising the swift pace of global change. He described the current phase as “a time to rethink everything we've ever done.”
Additionally, Amazon announced the closure of its remaining 70 Amazon-branded grocery outlets, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go, earlier on Tuesday, signaling a shift of focus towards expanding its Whole Foods Market venture.
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