Tuesday was just another workday. For thousands of Amazon employees, it was also their last.
Amazon layoffs took effect April 28 across Washington, California, New York, and Maryland, according to WARN notices reviewed by Newsweek. The cuts span corporate offices, product and engineering teams, grocery workers, and Amazon Fresh locations, making this one of the company’s broader workforce reductions this year.
The layoffs point to a larger reset inside Amazon: a company still unwinding pandemic-era expansion while investing more heavily in AI and reshaping its grocery business around Whole Foods.
Where Amazon’s layoffs are hitting hardest
According to reports, Washington will see about 2,600 cuts, many concentrated in Seattle-area corporate offices. More than half of those affected employees reportedly worked in product and engineering roles.
California appears to be the hardest-hit state, with 4,865 employees affected across 10 locations. Newsweek reported that many of those cuts are tied to Amazon Fresh closures, though some corporate roles are also affected.
In Maryland, five Amazon Fresh stores are closing, resulting in 742 layoffs.
New York’s timeline is different because state law generally requires 90 days’ notice for covered layoffs. Some affected employees there will remain employed into May. Newsweek reported that 44 workers will be cut from an Amazon facility on Long Island, 71 from another Nassau County facility, and 135 from a corporate office at a WeWork location in New York City.
Newsweek also reported that 691 Amazon workers in Virginia are being terminated, though Virginia was not included among the four states highlighted in the main WARN notices.
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What’s behind the layoffs
In light of the alarming trajectory of recent layoffs, it’s easy to place all the blame on AI, but the full picture is more complex than just being AI-driven. According to Newsweek, pandemic-era overhiring, AI integrations, and recent economic shifts are driving these job cuts.
The company is now focusing more on its grocery chain Whole Foods, and says it will open over 100 Whole Foods facilities in the coming years. As a result, some of its Amazon Fresh stores will be converted into Whole Foods facilities.
However, AI is still a major factor. Andy Jassy, in a statement made last year and cited by Newsweek, said:
“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today. In the next few years, we expect that [AI] will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
Related reading: According to previous reports, Amazon is expected to cut around 16,000 jobs from its global workforce this year.