Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that generative AI and AI-powered software agents will replace the company’s total corporate workforce in the upcoming years, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday, June 17.
“As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” he said.
“It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
As of the end of last year, Amazon employed over 1.5 million full-time and part-time workers. Additionally, the company hires temporary staff and independent contractors as needed.
Amazon’s announcement follows the footsteps of other tech giants that have axed hundreds, and even thousands of employees, as they increasingly adopt AI.
This includes Microsoft, which recently announced a round of layoffs that hit software developers hardest.
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