'Some may ask why': Amazon exec explains huge layoff now slamming California

"Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, defended the 14,000 cuts to staff in a Tuesday memo. She wrote that while the company expects "to continue hiring in key strategic areas," the layoffs are part of an ongoing push to reduce layers and bureaucracy and to shift resources toward the company's "biggest bets." "Some may ask why we're reducing roles when the company is performing well," Galetti wrote."

"In the same paragraph, she gave her answer: "What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before." She added that Amazon's leadership wants the workforce to be organized "more leanly" and "to move as quickly as possible.""

Amazon is laying off 1,403 workers in California as part of a global reduction of 14,000 corporate roles. WARN notices list layoffs in Sunnyvale (391), Irvine (333), Palo Alto (176), and Culver City (152) among affected locations. Leadership frames the cuts as a move to reduce layers and bureaucracy, shift resources toward major strategic bets, and organize the workforce more leanly. The company expects to continue hiring in key strategic areas while investing billions in artificial intelligence. Executives describe the current generation of AI as highly transformative and likely to accelerate changes in workforce needs.

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