Amazon cuts 1,800 engineering jobs in its record layoffs

Amazon has cut more than 1,800 engineering jobs in its largest round of layoffs to date.

Nearly 40% of the 4,700 roles eliminated across Washington, New York, New Jersey, and California were engineering positions.

The layoffs, part of over 14,000 job cuts announced in October, impacted divisions including video games, ad, and AI search.

State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings show that mid-level software engineers were hit hardest.

Amazon also eliminated more than 500 product and program manager roles, along with several senior and principal-level positions.

The company has scaled down investments in experimental projects and halted much of its big-budget game development.

Amazon’s visual search and shopping teams faced significant cuts, and it reduced its online ad business, cutting over 140 sales and marketing jobs in New York.

Further job reductions are expected in January.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Amazon cuts signal a shift as it keeps pushing on AI and growth

Amazon cut 14,000 jobs. It raised its 2025 capital spending forecast to $125 billion, up from $118 billion, with more in 2026 for AI gear and data centers 1.
AWS revenue grew 20.2 percent, fastest in 11 quarters, with a $200 billion backlog of committed future customer spend 2. Trainium 2, the second-generation AI training chip, grew 150 percent quarter over quarter 2.
CEO Andy Jassy said the layoffs were not financially driven, and he wants a leaner, less bureaucratic company to move faster 1.
Amazon is spending on AI infrastructure, opened an $11 billion Project Rainier data center, and deployed one million robots in fulfillment centers 1 2.

Mid-level engineering talent across consumer, advertising, and devices is now open to rivals

About 40 percent of 4,700 cuts in key states were engineering roles, with mid-level software engineers hit hardest, which gives startups and rivals a chance to hire Amazon folks 3.
The reductions touched cloud computing, retail, advertising, and devices, widening the pool for platforms and tech hiring managers 3.
Advertising remains a growth business with $17.7 billion in Q3 ad revenue, up 24 percent year over year, or 22 percent excluding foreign exchange (FX) 4. The cuts free up adtech talent skilled in scaled performance, measurement, and demand-side platform (DSP) workflows 4.
Hiring managers and startup founders can watch layoff spreadsheets or LinkedIn for Amazon alumni, with focus on hubs like New York City and Seattle.