Amazon, One of the World’s Largest Employers, Scales Back Staff as Artificial Intelligence Expands
Amazon, one of the world’s largest employers, is changing how it works because of artificial intelligence. CEO Andy Jassy recently told employees that new AI technology will make the company need fewer people, especially in office jobs.
He called this technology a “once-in-a-lifetime” change that is already making Amazon faster and more efficient. Amazon’s total number of workers has dropped in the past few years.
In 2021, Amazon had 1.6 million employees. Now, in 2025, the number is about 1.56 million. Since 2022, Amazon has cut more than 27,000 jobs. In 2025 alone, the company let go of 200 people from its North America stores and 100 from its devices and services group.
Amazon is using more robots than ever. In 2019, it had 200,000 robots. Today, it has over 750,000. These machines do jobs in warehouses that people used to do, like moving boxes and sorting packages.
Amazon says that while some jobs disappear, new ones are created, such as fixing robots or working with AI systems. However, these new jobs often need special skills that not everyone has.
Other big companies are making similar changes. Microsoft and Shopify are also using AI to do work that people used to do. This trend shows that many businesses want to use technology to save money and work faster.
These changes matter because Amazon’s decisions affect many people and set examples for other companies. As machines and AI take over simple, repetitive jobs, workers may need to learn new skills to keep their jobs or find new ones.
This shift also affects local economies, as fewer jobs can mean less money spent in communities. Amazon’s move to more automation is not just about saving money. It is about staying ahead as technology changes how companies compete.
The story of Amazon’s workforce shows that the future of work will look different, with more machines and fewer people doing the same old jobs. Workers, businesses, and governments will need to think about how to adapt to this new reality.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief