• Amazon laid off dozens of employees in communications, corporate responsibility, and sustainability teams.
• Part of ongoing restructuring under CEO Andy Jassy to reduce bureaucracy and flatten management layers.
• Amazon continues to streamline operations, but questions remain about the impact on its sustainability initiatives.

Amazon has kicked off the year with another round of layoffs, this time targeting its communications and corporate responsibility divisions, including its sustainability team. The company confirmed that dozens of employees were affected, marking yet another step in its ongoing efforts to streamline operations.

The layoffs were announced internally on Wednesday, with Drew Herdener, Amazon’s executive overseeing public relations and corporate responsibility, citing an organizational redesign as the primary reason behind the job cuts.

“As we examined our current org design and decided on the shifts outlined above, we identified some roles that were too narrowly scoped or that introduced unnecessary layers,” Herdener wrote in a memo to employees. “To address this and do the right thing for the business, we’re eliminating a small number of roles in Communications and Sustainability.”

Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser echoed this sentiment, stating that the changes would help the company move faster, increase ownership, strengthen culture, and bring teams closer to customers.

While Amazon did not disclose the exact number of employees affected, the latest round of job cuts follows a wider restructuring strategy that has been underway for the past two years.

Since taking over in 2021, CEO Andy Jassy has aggressively focused on cost-cutting and efficiency, leading to at least 27,000 layoffs across various divisions in 2022 and 2023. While the deepest cuts were made during this period, Amazon has continued to make smaller, targeted reductions in 2024, focusing on areas it deems overly bureaucratic.

Jassy has also emphasized flattening Amazon’s corporate structure, reducing managerial layers to increase agility and innovation. In a company-wide memo last year, he acknowledged that Amazon had grown rapidly in recent years, leading to an excess of management positions that slowed decision-making.

In addition to layoffs, Amazon has introduced new workplace policies that some employees believe are designed to encourage voluntary resignations. In January 2024, the company mandated five days of in-office work for corporate employees, a shift from its previous three-day hybrid model. Employees have also been asked to relocate to designated office hubs, with some choosing to leave rather than move.

The latest job cuts come shortly after Amazon laid off 200 employees in its Stores division, responsible for the company’s vast online marketplace. Additionally, Amazon announced the closure of seven warehouses in Quebec, Canada, affecting 1,700 employees.

Amazon has also been winding down underperforming projects, including its “Try Before You Buy” clothing service and certain brick-and-mortar delivery initiatives. These moves indicate a broader shift toward consolidating resources and prioritizing profitable ventures.

Despite these cuts, Amazon remains committed to its sustainability goals, which include achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 and powering operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. The layoffs within the sustainability team raise questions about how these goals will be pursued moving forward.

As Amazon continues to optimize its workforce and restructure operations, it remains to be seen how these changes will impact the company's long-term vision, employee morale, and its ability to balance efficiency with innovation.