Amazon laid off approximately 14,000 employees on Tuesday, marking one of the company’s largest workforce reductions in recent years. The cuts, which affect about 4% of Amazon’s global corporate workforce, were communicated through a series of text messages sent to affected employees early Tuesday morning. According to people familiar with the matter and screenshots reviewed by Business Insider, the messages instructed workers to check their personal or work email before coming to the office and to contact a help desk if they hadn’t received an email about their role. The move was designed to prevent employees from arriving at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters and being unable to access the building due to deactivated badges—a growing issue during mass layoffs at companies like Google and Tesla. The layoffs are part of Amazon’s broader effort to streamline operations and accelerate innovation, driven in large part by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. Beth Galetti, Amazon’s HR chief, announced the cuts in a blog post and an internal Slack message to employees. She emphasized that despite Amazon’s strong financial performance, the company is making difficult decisions to adapt to a fast-changing technological landscape. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet,” Galetti wrote, noting that AI is enabling companies to innovate faster than ever before, even in entirely new markets. Many of the affected roles were in retail management, continuing a trend of reductions in that division. The company also cut positions within its OS & Services team, with vice president Tapas Roy informing employees to “lean in on AI” as a way forward. In Germany, some workers received a security alert on their work devices indicating their access had been placed in “reduced functionality mode,” a status typically applied when a role is being closed or transferred. Amazon notified the local works council of the changes, as required by German labor law. Despite the job losses, Amazon assured affected employees they would receive full pay and benefits for 90 days, along with a severance package. The company has not disclosed the full details of the severance, but the 90-day support period is intended to provide time for transition and job searching. Amazon’s leadership has long emphasized a startup-like culture, with CEO Andy Jassy stating the company aims to operate as the “world’s largest startup.” This latest round of layoffs reflects that philosophy, as Amazon seeks to remain agile in a competitive and fast-evolving tech environment. The company, which has 1.55 million employees globally, is using AI not just to improve its services but to restructure its workforce, automating processes and reassigning teams to focus on AI-driven innovation. While Amazon declined to comment directly, referring media to Galetti’s blog post, the message is clear: the company is betting big on AI to drive future growth, even if it means significant short-term disruption. The decision underscores a broader industry shift, where AI is not just a tool for efficiency but a catalyst for fundamental organizational change. As AI reshapes industries, the human cost of such transformation becomes increasingly visible. For Amazon, the layoffs signal a pivotal moment—one where technological progress and workforce stability are being recalibrated in real time.