(JEWISH VOICE NEWS) Amazon is cutting roughly 16,000 additional positions as part of a sweeping effort to pare back bureaucracy and sharpen its competitive edge in an industry increasingly reshaped by artificial intelligence, according to company statements and reports.

The latest round of layoffs comes on the heels of approximately 14,000 job cuts announced in October, when the company also shuttered its gaming division. As part of the broader restructuring, Amazon has confirmed it will close its Amazon-branded grocery outlets as well as its cashierless retail stores, signaling a pullback from several high-profile but underperforming ventures.

In a message posted on Amazon’s website Wednesday, company leadership acknowledged the impact of the decision on employees. “I want to let you know that we’re making additional organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates,” the note read, adding that the announcement was being shared openly because of how difficult the news would be for those affected.

The message reiterated that the company’s leadership has been working for months to simplify Amazon’s internal structure. As Amazon previously explained in October, the goal has been to reduce management layers, boost accountability, and eliminate red tape. While some teams completed those changes late last year, others finalized them only recently, leading to the newly announced cuts.

According to the company, the reductions will affect about 16,000 roles worldwide. Amazon said it plans to offer most U.S.-based employees whose jobs are eliminated a 90-day window to seek other positions within the company, with timelines abroad varying based on local labor rules and regulations.

Despite the layoffs, Amazon stressed that it is not freezing growth altogether. The company said it will continue hiring in what it described as “strategic areas” that are essential to its long-term plans, underscoring that leadership still sees major opportunities across its businesses.

As Zero Hedge reported, the job cuts highlight the growing pressure on legacy tech giants to reinvent themselves as AI reshapes everything from cloud computing to retail logistics. The outlet noted that Amazon’s retrenchment reflects a broader industry reckoning, as companies trim older projects to free up capital and talent for AI-driven initiatives.

Amazon’s move is part of a wider wave of tech-sector layoffs early in 2026. Autodesk has announced plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs — roughly 7% of its workforce — as it restructures and redirects investment toward AI and cloud services. Pinterest has also said it will cut nearly 15% of its employees while reallocating resources toward artificial intelligence projects.

Layoff trackers cited by Zero Hedge show that thousands of tech workers across dozens of firms have already been affected by job reductions so far this year, underscoring how aggressively companies are reshaping their workforces amid economic uncertainty and intensifying AI competition.