Amazon layoffs hit during Prime Big Deal Days while Bezos says AI could bring 3-day workweeks and US may beat China to moon by 2028

Amazon layoffs: Amazon is cutting jobs again and this time while millions of shoppers are turning to the company for its Prime Big Deal Days sale.

Lesser than 1,000 white-collar employees are affected by the latest round of layoffs, with most of the cuts hitting Amazon’s Stores division. Workers in the US, India and the UK are among those affected.

The timing makes the latest cuts particularly striking. Amazon’s retail business is busy with one of its major shopping events at the same time that employees in the organization are being told their jobs are disappearing.

Amazon layoffs affect workers across several teams

The cuts are spread across Amazon’s Stores organization rather than being limited to one group.

Customer service and selling partner services are among the areas affected. Business Insider also reported cuts involving marketplace support and engineering roles within Amazon’s retail business.

Some employees received emails telling them that their positions had been cut. Others turned to an internal Slack channel with nearly 37,000 members to talk about the layoffs and ask questions about severance, internal job openings and access to company systems, as per a Business Insider report.

Amazon said it had changed parts of its Stores organization because it believes the new structure will help it deliver on its priorities.

Amazon job cuts arrive during Prime Big Deal Days

The latest layoffs come as Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event is underway.

The two-day shopping event began Tuesday and ran through Wednesday, putting the workforce cuts in the middle of a major period for Amazon’s retail business.

The latest reductions also follow a much larger round of layoffs. Amazon cut about 30,000 jobs in two rounds that began last year and continued into January.

Amazon is cutting jobs as its AI spending grows

There is another part of the Amazon story happening at the same time.

The company is preparing to spend $220 billion on data centers, chips and other infrastructure for artificial intelligence, according to Business Insider.

Amazon has also contacted some former employees, including people affected by earlier layoffs, about opportunities in AWS and its AI businesses.

So that means, the company is cutting positions in some areas while putting enormous resources behind others.

Amazon workers are left with questions

For employees who received layoff notices, the immediate concern is not Amazon’s long-term AI strategy, it is what happens to them next.

As per the Business Insider report, workers were asking about severance, medical leave, internal job opportunities and how long they would have access to company systems. Some were also trying to work out whether more layoff notices were still coming.

This comes after months of concern among Amazon’s corporate workforce about further cuts.

Jeff Bezos is talking about a very different future

Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos has offered his own explanation for the company’s workforce changes.

During a Fox News interview, Bezos said Amazon had significantly expanded its workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic as people stayed home and ordered more products, reported Reuters.

But Bezos was also looking beyond the layoffs and toward what he believes could come next. He said artificial intelligence could bring major productivity gains and potentially allow some families to support themselves while working less. He also said the United States should beat China to the moon and expressed confidence that an American lunar landing could happen in 2028.

Bezos said, "Some people will also decide, you know what? I can support my family by working three days a week. Rhat’s what productivity in the economy means," as quoted by Fox News.

He added, "It’s going to actually be difficult to hire people because the productivity in the economy is going to make it so that if people don’t want to work two jobs, they won’t have to."