Amazon says it didn’t cut 14,000 people because of money. It cut them because of ‘culture’

Question

The Amazon chief executive said that it wasn't because of AI, but culture that 14,000 people were laid off. He said that the more people you have "ownership over" the worse leader you can be and Amazon is supposed to be the leading startup.

Answer 1

Trying to pinpoint Amazon's exact reasons for layoffs is difficult, but it does appear that Amazon leadership either has inconsistent messaging on AI's role or is attempting to downplay it. According to several business and tech outlets including PC Mag, GeekWire, and Fortune, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that the company's sacking of 14,000 employees "was not really financially driven, and it's not even really AI-driven—not right now, at least."

However, this contradicts an Amazon blog post written the same day the new round of layoffs was announced. In the post, Amazon's Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology Beth Galetti addressed the question of why the company would reduce roles when performing well, citing "This generation of AI...it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). We're convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business."

Jassy's statement also contradicts his own remarks from June. In a note to Amazon employees reported by Reuters, he "flagged the possibility of such losses, saying increased use of AI tools and agents would lead to more corporate job cuts, particularly through automating routine tasks."

Broadly, it does appear that Amazon is preparing for the possibility of a smaller general workforce enabled by AI. While Amazon's recent layoffs largely affected middle managers, the company has also faced questions about job cuts in other areas. For instance, Bernie Sanders criticized the company following a New York Times report that Amazon executives believe 500,000 jobs could be cut over time by replacing warehouse workers with robots.
 

Answer 2

After doing more research, this claim is true, but majority of the articles that I could find that come back to this statement have just been about cutting people mainly for their use of AI. 

From CBS news, they wrote that they're cutting jobs to rely more on AI and move towards lower wage bills. Saying that by doing this, it'll reduce human workforce as the business becomes even more efficient. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-layoffs-14000-job-cuts-ai/

From USA Today, I found they're "removing layers and shifting resources." They're cutting jobs because they believe they need to be more organized and with less layers there'll be more ownership which will make things move more quickly for the business and the customers of Amazon. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/10/28/amazon-layoffs-corporate-employees/86941789007/

Lastly, I found an article from New York Times which also talks about the same topics, cutting jobs to to ensure bigger bets and future needs. It also quotes the chief executive of Amazon that he told employees that efficiency gains from the use of AI would shrink the company's work force over the next few years. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/amazon-layoffs.html

In conclusion, yes this claim is true that Amazon is cutting workers but it's not entirely for the purpose of culture and mainly for the fact the AI is ensuring the company a better future and will make things move faster in the long run. 

Answer 3

The claim is mostly true.

First, the article is from a reliable source and written by a real journalist.

In addition, other news outlets have also reported on this issue. According to Entrepreneur, Amazon CEO decided to lay off 14000 corporate employees. In addition, he explained that the reason why Amazon laid them off is not AI or financial problems, but culture. However, he announced AI might take over some tasks done by employees. Other companies, such as Microsoft and Google, have also laid off part of their workforce. Furthermore, Forbes pointed out we should not blame AI for these layoffs.

In conclusion, Amazon CEO said the layoffs were not caused by money or AI.  Although the claim appears to be true, there is no strong evidence to fully support his explanation.