Thinus Ferreira
Amazon on Tuesday confirmed that it is getting rid of 14 000 corporate workers, a total that could increase to 30 000, saying advances in artificial intelligence mean that AI is making their jobs redundant.
Amazon says getting rid of the workers will make the company more efficient. The retrenchments of Amazon workers are taking place across all divisions, including its streaming service Amazon Prime Video.
Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, commenting about Amazong getting rid of people, told Amazon workers on Tuesday that the mass firing of staffers is part of Amazon's efforts "to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs."
"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 (in existing market segments and altogether new ones)."
"We're convicted that we need to be organised more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business."
