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This summer I went camping and at the campground next to me was a middle manager at Amazon. I’ve been out of the workforce for about a year, so I asked him how much of an impact AI was having in his role.

He told me that he had worked to develop a tool that would replace effectively all of the middle management function that he was responsible for: gathering information from folks below him, distilling it down and reporting that to people above him.

His hope was that he would be retained to maintain the system that he built, knowing that every other manager at his level was going to be terminated.

It felt like watching someone who is about to be executed be responsible for building the gallows. He should’ve been so aware that his job was going to be the first one cut, and he was responsible for building a tool to cut his own job. But he was optimistic that the cuts wouldn’t come for him

Makes me wonder how he’s doing today

I like to think about this story from years ago when Nintendo wasn't doing so well and there was talk of layoffs

"Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts"

https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/nintendo-ceos-refusal-t...

I realize these companies aren't identical, but interesting to compare approaches. I also expect Amazon hires and fires more easily instead of growing more slowly and steadily.

>Amazon axes 16,000 American jobs as it ... relocates to a larger campus in India

https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/10/amazon-to-invest-additiona...

Insightful Comment from X - https://xcancel.com/PlumbNick/status/2016500347053773198?s=2...

I was an L7, I led global AI enablement. I built systems executives depended on, moved wherever the company needed me and fixed problems that had been sitting untouched because no one else could untangle them.

And I was still cut.

Here’s the part we’re all supposed to politely ignore: in the U.S. right now, experience isn’t an asset, it’s a liability. And if you’re expensive because you’re good at what you do, the system eventually “optimizes” you out.

We're now in the realm of hold onto your nuts -- sink or swim -- ownership of your own company is the only way out

AI is just the disguise. It's the economy, just like it is in every recession.

The difference between the reaction on HN to the Amazon layoffs and the ASML layoffs is interesting. Perhaps it's driven by the fact that people here are employed by US companies and not by ASML, so we're able to admire how ASML is cutting 4% of its workforce as reducing the number of managers but Amazon cutting 1%^H^H 4% of its corporate workforce so that they can get to "reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy" is considered to be because of other secret causes that are a sign of the company failing.

I wonder what kind of unprecedented economic growth we'd be seeing right now if we kept with the status quo rather than imposing tariffs and scaring off foreign investors.

Every large company is updating its standard layoffs announcement press release from "economic headwinds" to "AI".

- September 2025: US imposes additional 100k USD per visa as a condition to eligibility. (previous was 5k - 20k USD)

- October 2025: Amazon cuts 14k jobs

- December 2025: Amazon announces additional 35b USD investment to India (total 75b USB by 2030); promises to create ~1m jobs there

- December 2025: Random H1B lottery is dismantled, giving preference to higher company salary spending e.g. the more salary H1B applicant would receive, the better the chances

- January 2026: Amazon cuts 16k additional jobs (30k jobs cut in total)

You really don't have to be a detective to figure out that this has nothing to do with AI.

Interesting perspective of an L7 who was laid off at Amazon

https://xcancel.com/PlumbNick/status/2016500347053773198

having worked there. Amazon has toxic managers, culture that turn ICs against each other. no tech vision. insane politics. low caliber people gatekeeping.

Their stock will go up the next year or two only because of their luck of partnering with Anthropic (back when they were a distant second choice to OpenAPI)

This always feels like the result of leadership too scared to build. It's so much safer and easier to tear down.

Amazon spent a lot of time and money and built a top-tier workforce. But now they are out of ideas for what these people can do? They don't have any untapped opportunities left? No projects that never quite made it to the top of the stack? No deferred maintenance that could be taken care of now?

Amazon is flailing at this point and now in a pattern of mass layoffs every 3-6 months. Not good.

Leadership can’t even gets its story straight about why… “It’s AI” correction “Pandemic over-hiring” correction “delayering” correction “restoring our culture” correction “actually AI!”.

There’s a whole mess of rando projects and teams with bloated management layers and often little to show for it revenue wise.

While on the one hand it’s obvious that mess needs to be cleaned up, on the other hand the top leadership has been in place for a while so the very people that created/oversaw the mess are struggling to position themselves as the one to fix it. That seems unlikely to work and the best talent in areas like AI seems to be fleeing voluntarily.

Everything I hear from the inside says moral is in the toilet and the once proud “culture of innovation” is in shambles with teams focused on politics, infighting, and endless reorgs.

Frankly, sounds like a s*itshow and what Jeff Bezos predicted as “Day 2” for the company’s eventual slow decline.

10% cut of the corporate workforce in 2 months is wild lol

Crazy most of it is programmers (and/or various other white collar jobs) tbh

> Leave your affordable neighborhood with good schools to keep your job

> RTO to Seattle / Bay Area to a dingy condo , with diligence , at enormous personal expense

> Laid off a 18 mo later. CEO says "i'm taking responsibility" , no responsibility taken.

I'm outside the US, and boycotting Amazon for anything I can get elsewhere (which turns out isn't everything, but best efforts and all that). The shift towards AI is either a very bad thing (as per Microslop and the raft of recent articles about quality dropping), or just a cheap excuse to replace expensive staff with cheaper people.

Alternatively they may be using AI in HR as part of the decision making, and it's made the determination that these folk can go "because of AI" based on past firings and performance since then.

I've been hearing about massive Amazon layoffs for a few years now. How come the company still exists? Are these layoffs followed by hiring at cheaper regions or different parts of the company? From my perspective as an occasional Amazon customer, things are pretty much unchanged.

We're basically in a low-key recession that is being masked by circular AI deals and speculation.

Alexa, insert David and Victoria Beckham "be honest" meme

Some of these are obviously related to the closing of some of the retail businesses. And some might simply be middle management bloat that happens often at tech companies.

But imagine you're one of the people who remain (e.g., not impacted by the eliminated companies or products) and now there are fewer people to do the same amount of work? I've seen that movie and it usually has an economic impact 6-9 months later when people burn out.

It's almost like you can write the script:

Month 0–3: Survivors are relieved, grateful, and over-perform. Leadership reads this as “proof the cuts worked.”

Month 3–6: Context loss shows up. Decision latency increases. Domain knowledge walked out the door.

Month 6–9: Burnout, attrition, and quality failures begin. The “hidden layoffs” start as top performers quietly leave.

Month 9–12: Rehiring or contracting resumes (usually at higher cost)

The key misunderstanding here is assuming AI substitutes for organizational slack and human coordination. It doesn’t.

And sometimes middle management "bloat" is misdiagnosed. Remove them without redesigning decision rights and workflows, and the load doesn’t disappear it redistributes to the IC's.

Watch for Amazon "strategic investments" in early Q4 2026 (this will be a cover for the rehiring).

Funny enough, I have an acquaintance who has been job hunting for almost a year. They are expecting an offer from Amazon Corporate later this week or early next week. They are early in their career and will cost less to hire, so it still makes sense I guess.

I am beginning to dislike AI more and more.

Though, I think the title is a bit of a misnomer here. In part the axing of jobs was done to reduce costs; now AI also may relate here or be even a main driver, but I think the title oversimplifies it a bit.

I have always been saying: don't be optimistic about AI. Software people prepared their end with this optimism without knowing how the economy works. "AI will make our jobs easier, I will have more time with my family," blah blah. Now we will see more news like that in the coming years. I am okay with supporting AI for curing cancer, but I am against supporting AI for disrupting the white-collar economy without a proper government plan.

I’ve seen Bezos’s yacht and can tell you he is creating new jobs! His yacht is accompanied by a supply vessel that carries staff, food, etc. At least 20 people work on the secondary boat!

They called it project dawn which is telling what they have in mind with these layoffs.

So new AWS outages can be expected

But Amazon says there shortage of skilled labor and is the highest user of H1B visas

https://h1bgrader.com/h1b-sponsors/amazon-dot-com-services-l...

Official post: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-layoffs... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46793906)

My data is a bit incomplete for amazon but here is some analysis on where they seem to be focusing based on job postings:

https://jobswithgpt.com/company-profiles/amazon/

My hot take is that AI is shaping up to be a tax on big tech.

Yet another round of layoffs being blamed on AI. As with last time, this is not due to productivity gains from AI, rather it's due to wanting to reallocate budget towards investing in AI. (and maybe an excuse for something they already wanted to do)

I think some productivity gains from AI are real, and I've experienced some firsthand, but reductions in force being ENABLED by AI are not, and I don't think we will see much of that for a good while still.

AI is attracting a lot of investment dollars because it's seen as disruptive; the capabilities it potentially unlocks for people are enormous. The problem is that general intelligence is still far away (fundamentally cannot be reached with the current approaches to AI, in my opinion), and the level of investment required is so high that the only way folks are getting that money back is if it does enable a level of layoffs that would be crippling to the economy.

Additionally, there is not a huge difference between the top models, and thanks to the massive investments the models are incrementally improving. It seems obvious from the outside that AI models are going to be a commodity, and good free models put downward pressure on prices, which they are already losing money on. So I think it's going to be a race to the bottom, and is very unlikely to be a winner-takes-all situation.

I think this means that the reward for big tech companies pouring insane amounts of money into AI will be maintaining their current position, or maybe stealing a bit of business from each other. That's why I think AI is more of a tax on big tech than a real investment opportunity.

If you have to post this, you are the reason for fear factor:

Some of you might ask if this is the beginning of a new rhythm – where we announce broad reductions every few months. That’s not our plan.

Looks like they laid off a bunch of bean counters. Raw skills are still in demand

"AGI" at Amazon has been achieved internally and as predicted. [0]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46741246

The problem is that Amazon cuts a lot of jobs all the time, then re-hire. This could just be just regular, routine amazon evil, and they are leveraging this to make Wall Street happy

It does have the feel of a tactical crouch and hold position by Amazon. AI / LLM for the masses is still just a bet, and perhaps an overly invested bet

The government should start putting tariffs on outsourcing; otherwise, the U.S. job market will be in a bloodbath forever.

Denial everyone. Amazon will have the same profits running on AI and robots with minimal expenses. All the other companies will follow. Wake up to reality.

This is great news! Hopefully so many people have stopped buying crap from Amazon, that a tipping point is near, and there entire business will fold.

I personally haven't bought anything from Amazon or Ebay in 4 years, and will never again. I only buy local, or I don't buy. Starving the beast one purchase at a time.

The one phrase I've come to despise is "entrepreneurial risk", especially when it's used to justify exorbitant salaries of the higher ranks. Because, really, that "risk" for the most part is trickled down to the peasants who get laid off at a heartbeat whenever business is bad. They're not people with families and liabilities and lives, they're commodities.

I'd say your risk of losing your livelihood is higher as a simple employee than as a CEO when we're talking about post-startup companies.

Another article about this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2ywzxlxnlo

> In-office work is now mandatory five-days a week, making Amazon one of the only major tech companies to require its employees to be in the office full-time.

With this kind of employee hostile policies and threat of job cut, how does it manage to be the A of FANG (or as they call it, MANGA)? But apparently people still want to get a job there? The pay is a little less than other companies in the same league. So pay can't be the reason. Or is it? Honestly want to know what it is that make IT people get a job there?

Who needs jobs anymore? We have AI now! Oh and everyone can be an entrepreneur so everything will be fine.

From the article it seems like this is mostly corporate side - fulfillment appears to be OK as long as consumers continue consuming... or until Amazon pushes robotics side of fulfillment to its logical conclusion - getting rid of those pesky humans that require toilet breaks and dare to talk about unionization.

amazon is really doing it's things now, i say to stay cautious

NES to the other. Drink to the only with cyanide.

Is it a coincidence that my Amazon (UK) checkout is repeatedly hitting an error page at the moment?!

"Earlier this month, top executives at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting said while jobs would disappear, new ones would spring up, with two of them telling Reuters that AI would be used as an excuse by companies planning to cut jobs anyway."

Another case of “Corporate Autoscaling”! Don’t need so many worker instances right now? Just return some to the pool.

They’d scale to zero if they could!

It’s giving “We’ve tried everything except layoffs and we are all out of ideas”

Except that’s been Jassy’s number one tool to try and get the stock price moving.

What a shithole of a company, why does anyone work there, is it just all H1B slaves there now?

Why pay people when you can steal from foss projects and use both forms of ai (Actually indians and Artificially Inflated)

One thing I don't understand when it comes to these big data-center investments in India is what will they do when the water runs out? Because I do not think that this is environmentally sustainable.

“If you’re not laying off tons of workers, do you even know to use AI? Shitty companies still use human labor… don’t invest in them.”

The start of the end.

you always hear about a stream of layoffs but It doesn't give the full picture. what i'm more interested in is what is their total employee count over time. that represents the net hiring net lay offs, is what counts at the end of the day

Again, I feel like the general comments are missing the forest for the trees by relying on witty quips about AI or retreading (legitimate) outsourcing grievances, instead of actually addressing the root problem on display:

Companies, be they highly profitable global conglomerates like Amazon or smaller Mom and Pop shops, have zero incentive whatsoever to retain staff. None. In fact, they have every incentive to axe as many workers as possible, as often as possible, profit be damned. So long as governments and shareholders reward job cuts with stock price or compensation bumps, this trend will continue.

To simplify: we have built a global society where 99% of people must work to survive but have zero mandates that employers provide jobs with livable wages and benefits. That is, and will remain, the crux of the issue at hand.

I don’t think it’s a controversial idea to impose broad and lenient regulations on companies to prevent this sort of activity. Made a profit last year? No layoffs allowed without a year’s worth of severance and benefits is such an immense deterrent that most employers will find ways to repurpose staff internally rather than fire them for a quick share bump - though with the consequence of slower hiring, as companies don’t want to be burdened with too much unnecessary talent. There are literally hundreds of policy ideas out there that nobody wants to pull because it’d inconvenience Capital, but we’re at a crossroads where we either mandate Capital behave with the barest of minimums of decency and respect for the workforce they mandate exist through Capitalist markets, or we break their arm outright and tax the absolute shit out of them to provide a high quality of life for every worker regardless of present employment.

Right now, they get to keep all the money while outsourcing risks to the workforce, and all that’s done is create shit like this: thousands let go not out of business need, but of business greed.

a16k anyone?

We’ve had crazy covid years where every new grad was making 250k+, and now every 3-6 months we have layoffs which has not surprisingly been paired with blaming it on offshoring, H1b etc. Clearly the current system can’t withstand much of a shock, what’s going to happen if we get a full 2007 style recession, will the blame game go even higher on steroids, some times it feels like it’s quite bad already. I don’t look forward to that.

I think and I know HN commentators are going to hate this, but Thiel was right when he wrote that the current system only works with fast continuous growth. Ideally multiple growing sectors, contributing to the economy. Anything else, and everyone immediately starts fighting for scraps joining their tribal identity or whatnot. The only way out, would be more rapid growth in multiple sectors, not just AI, or a complete breakdown of the existing system which does not leave me hopeful for anything better. I in fact like the existing system quite a bit, but maybe that’s just me.

Good for them

How's the $100K H1B fee that was announced to distract from the Trump Gold Card announcement [0] going? The HN hive mind said it would bring back the jerbs and those of us who warned [1][2] it would incentivize mass layoffs and offshoring were hounded.

Before the layoffs were announced Amazon also committed to expanding hiring and infra expansion in India [3], and depending on the org, affected employees on work visas were offered transfers to India in lieu of being laid off [4].

The Trump admin won't do anything about offshoring either - in fact technology transfers to India are being encouraged by the admin as part of Pax Sillica [5] and GOP leaders in Purple Ag states like Iowa [6] and Montana [7] are lobbying for India after China pivoted away from American soybeans [8] and India began leveraging the China playbook [9].

When forced to choose between swing state farmers and GOP leaning SWEs, it's going to be the farmers who win.

[0] - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-signs-proclamati...

[1] - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-09-25/a-100-...

[2] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-r...

[3] - https://www.aboutamazon.in/news/economic-impact/amazon-econo...

[4] - https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonemployees/comments/1qfesvs/6_...

[5] - https://x.com/USAmbIndia/status/2010718052992618815

[6] - https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/2025-09-07/gov-reyno...

[7] - https://www.daines.senate.gov/2026/01/20/daines-travels-to-i...

[8] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-favour-brazilian-s...

[9] - https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cramer-dai...

Tech is dead. Has been since 2020.

It would be too much to ask to have fair and equal society, so instead we observe how capitalism/fascism will ruin the world over and over again.

I feel like this is the most natural layoff I've seen in twenty years (that is not the same as saying I feel good about it). Truly, most software companies need to cut their entire roster and re-draft quite frankly. You will need less people and have entirely new goals. This is beyond "economic" reality, AI has made it intuitive to restructure and reorient. Not doing so will just mean you will be blind-sided by any company that leaned down and re-envisioned their entire product.

So many products turned into feature mill factories. If things can get more concentrated and directed, then I think this will be better for all in terms of finding their true purpose in life.

I'm currently hiring engineering roles in SF for my startup. I am in the middle of closing my $1.5M pre-seed this week so I don't have job descriptions posted yet. But, here's a short pitch:

AI agents are about to orchestrate trillions in commerce, but today they shop on thin data: product specs, studio photos, and text reviews. Agents need evidence, not marketing. Today, the most influential product evidence lives on TikTok and Reels, outside the surfaces brands control and agents can use. Vidably puts verified buyer video directly onto e-commerce product pages through a lightweight widget. We capture that video post-purchase and link it to real purchasing outcomes. Every video is SKU-linked and structured so shopping agents can reason over it. The widget is the wedge, the dataset is the moat.

We're already live with brands and are seeing pull from both brands and creators and I would love for anyone interested to DM me!

Edit: I'm an idiot, HN doesn’t have DMs. Email me at hn at vidably dot com.

"AI" - "Always Indian" :D