"The one thing N. Lee Plumb knows for sure about being laid off from Amazon last week is that it wasn't a failure to get on board with the company's artificial intelligence plans. Plumb, his team's head of "AI enablement," says he was so prolific in his use of Amazon's new AI coding tool that the company flagged him as one of its top users."
""AI has to drive a return on investment," said Plumb, who worked at Amazon for eight years. "When you reduce head count, you've demonstrated efficiency, you attract more capital, the share price goes up." "So you could potentially have just been bloated in the first place, reduce head count, attribute it to AI, and now you've got a value story," he said."
N. Lee Plumb was laid off from Amazon despite heavy use of the company's new AI coding tool and leadership in "AI enablement." Amazon announced 16,000 corporate layoffs amid messaging about AI-driven efficiency gains. Other companies have similarly cited AI when announcing workforce changes, including Expedia, Pinterest, and Dow. Observers and affected employees note it can be difficult to determine whether AI caused cuts or whether AI is presented as a justification to signal efficiency to investors. Plumb emphasized that reducing head count can demonstrate efficiency, attract capital, and boost share price, while Amazon said AI was not the reason for the vast majority of reductions.
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