Workers were alerted after an internal message mistakenly suggested some had already lost jobs

Amazon has informed employees that it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide, marking a second major round of layoffs in just three months and deepening uncertainty across its global workforce. The announcement came after confusion sparked by an internal message that appeared to prematurely suggest some staff had already been told they were losing their jobs.

The US-based online retail giant said the cuts were part of further organisational changes aimed at streamlining operations and reshaping its internal structure. Amazon employs around 1.5 million people globally, making the scale of the reductions significant even by the company’s standards.

Most of the job losses are expected to occur in the United States, although Amazon confirmed that some roles in the UK and other countries may also be affected. The move follows a previous announcement in October that saw 14,000 jobs cut, underlining the scale of Amazon’s ongoing effort to slim down after rapid expansion during the pandemic years.

In a message to staff, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice-president of people experience and technology, said the company was reducing management layers, increasing accountability and removing what it sees as unnecessary bureaucracy. She stressed that some teams had not been affected by the earlier round of layoffs, but insisted this did not signal a pattern of regular job cuts.

Galetti acknowledged that employees may fear repeated rounds of redundancies. She said the company did not intend to announce sweeping reductions every few months, describing the latest changes as targeted rather than the start of an ongoing cycle.

Employees in the United States who are affected by the cuts will be given 90 days to apply for alternative roles within Amazon. The process and timelines for internal transfers will vary in other countries. Galetti said Amazon would continue hiring in areas it considers strategically important, including functions critical to its future growth.

The formal announcement followed an earlier incident that caused alarm among staff, particularly within Amazon Web Services. On Tuesday, some employees received an invitation to an online meeting scheduled for the following day. The meeting was later cancelled, but the invitation contained a draft email that appeared to reveal details of the layoffs.

That draft message incorrectly stated that affected workers in the United States, Canada and Costa Rica had already been notified of their job losses. The email, signed by Colleen Aubrey, a senior vice-president of applied AI solutions at AWS, referred to the layoffs internally as “Project Dawn”.

In the message, Aubrey described the decisions as difficult but necessary, saying they were being made carefully to position AWS and Amazon for future success. She acknowledged the impact such changes have on employees, writing that they are hard for everyone involved.

The draft email also referred to a separate communication from Amazon’s human resources leadership, which did not appear to have been sent at the time. Multiple news organisations reported on the leaked message, adding to staff anxiety before the official confirmation of the job cuts.

Amazon has been working to unwind a surge in hiring that took place during the pandemic, when online shopping and cloud services saw explosive growth. As demand stabilised and costs rose, the company began a broad effort to reduce spending and refocus its operations.

This latest round of layoffs reinforces the scale of Amazon’s restructuring, as thousands of workers face renewed uncertainty in a company still adjusting to life after its pandemic boom.