Amazon is undergoing one of its most extensive corporate restructurings in years, cutting management layers and reallocating resources toward artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
While CEO Andy Jassy argues that these changes will improve efficiency and streamline decision-making, many employees feel their career growth is being stifled in the process.
The company is reportedly pushing for a flatter organizational structure by hiring more recent graduates while phasing out senior positions, leaving some long-time employees with fewer opportunities to advance.
This shift follows Amazon’s broader cost-cutting measures, which began in late 2022 with layoffs that eliminated over 18,000 jobs. The restructuring is now expanding beyond job cuts and directly affecting internal career pathways, creating dissatisfaction among employees who say they are increasingly boxed into roles with no clear upward mobility.
As part of this effort, Jassy has directed Amazon’s leadership teams to increase the ratio of regular employees to managers by at least 15% before the end of the first quarter of 2025.
In a memo sent to employees in September 2024, he stated that the goal is to “remove unnecessary layers, eliminate bureaucracy, and empower teams to move faster”. However, internal reports suggest that the changes are having the opposite effect, leading to an environment where employees feel career progression is no longer a priority.
Return-to-Office Mandates and Project Cuts Add to Worker Frustration
Alongside restructuring, Amazon has introduced stricter office attendance policies, requiring employees to return to the office five days a week in early 2025. This change has stirred resistance from workers who feel that Amazon is rolling back flexible work arrangements that were previously seen as a benefit.
The company has justified this decision by emphasizing that in-person collaboration is key to fostering innovation and maintaining company culture. However, for many employees, this policy feels like a step backward in terms of workplace flexibility.
Meanwhile, Amazon has pulled back from several high-profile projects. Its cashierless checkout system, Just Walk Out, once considered a groundbreaking retail technology, has been scaled down in favor of more traditional checkout processes.
Additionally, the company has discontinued Amazon Care, its telehealth service that was initially launched to benefit employees but later expanded to the public. These cutbacks signal a shift in Amazon’s priorities, as it redirects resources away from experimental projects to focus on its core business operations.
The combination of tighter cost controls, reduced growth opportunities, and enforced in-office requirements has led to growing frustration among employees. Many are now questioning whether the company’s new direction will benefit their long-term careers.
According to internal reports shared with Bloomberg, employee sentiment has been mixed, with some acknowledging the need for change, while others feel that Amazon’s work environment is becoming less supportive of personal growth.
AI and Cloud Services Take Priority Over Workforce Growth
As Amazon slashes its management ranks, the company is focusing more on its investments in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company’s AWS division, which has been a major revenue driver, is central to these efforts.
Amazon has been pouring resources into AI-driven automation tools, machine learning services, and expanding cloud infrastructure to keep pace with its competitors, Microsoft and Google.
In a series of public statements, CEO Andy Jassy has repeatedly emphasized that AI will be a key focus for Amazon’s future growth, claiming that the company must move quickly to stay ahead in a competitive market.
Amazon’s aggressive AI push is not happening in a vacuum. The company is mirroring trends seen across the tech industry, where many large firms are shifting focus toward AI-driven strategies.
For example, Meta is merging its Facebook and Messenger teams, while implementing performance-based job cuts to streamline operations and redirect resources toward AI. Similarly, Microsoft has reduced its workforce in an effort to optimize resources and increase AI-driven innovation, prioritizing cloud services and automation over traditional workforce models.
Like the other big tech players, Amazon is betting heavily on AI. The company is currently building the AWS Ultracluster, a 83.2 petaflops powerful AI server farm which is planned to go live in 2025. Last December, AWS introduced its proprietary Trainium3 AI chips, promising a fourfold performance boost, alongside the launch of Trainium2-powered UltraServers.
The restructuring of Amazon’s workforce appears to be part of a broader trend across the tech industry to balance the benefits of automation with the need for human innovation.
For Amazon, shifting to AI and cloud services is not just about reducing costs; it’s about re-aligning the company’s focus toward the future. In his September 2024 memo, Jassy outlined the company’s ambition to “operate like the world’s largest startup,” a philosophy that hinges on fast decision-making, high ownership, and minimal bureaucracy.
In practice, this philosophy of “startup culture” has led to fewer managerial positions and an increased focus on individual ownership and autonomy. However, workers have reported that instead of gaining more freedom, they are facing more pressure, with no clear path forward in their careers.
Instead of opportunities to advance within a stable hierarchy, employees are now expected to take on greater responsibility without the guidance or mentorship that once accompanied leadership positions.
Employee Sentiment Dwindles As Career Growth Stagnates
Amazon’s workforce is grappling with how these changes affect career growth. According to internal surveys and reports, many employees feel that the elimination of traditional management positions has left them with limited opportunities for promotion.
For many employees, the reality of this restructuring is less about empowerment and more about uncertainty. Many report feeling that the restructuring has removed career advancement opportunities while adding a layer of complexity to their day-to-day work, with AI tools expected to take over certain managerial and operational roles.
The flattening of the organizational structure is meant to increase speed and decision-making efficiency, but many workers believe it has reduced their ability to climb the corporate ladder. Instead of clearer pathways to leadership, employees are being told to adapt to an environment where“ownership”and “autonomy”are the key metrics for success.
While some embrace this culture of empowerment, others fear it limits their chances for professional development within the company.
Amazon’s move to adopt AI for performance monitoring, decision-making, and workload distribution has also created uncertainty. With fewer managers to oversee teams and track individual progress, employees worry that their performance may be increasingly judged by AI-driven systems, rather than human supervisors.
As AI and automation technologies begin to take over administrative tasks, traditional managerial oversight may become increasingly scarce, leaving employees to navigate an evolving, more impersonal work environment. This shift mirrors changes occurring at other tech companies like Meta, which has also embraced AI tools for workforce management and performance evaluation.
