Read the email Amazon is sending to laid-off employees as it cuts 16,000 corporate roles

Amazon has begun notifying employees about significant layoffs, impacting 16,000 corporate positions, as revealed in communications shared by affected staff. The notifications were sent out on Wednesday morning by Beth Galetti, the company's head of Human Resources, to workers in the US, UK, and India. The email outlined that those impacted will receive full pay and benefits for a 90-day period following the announcement. Galetti's message conveyed the challenging nature of the decision, stating, "After a thorough review of our organization, our priorities, and what we need to focus on going forward, we've made the hard business decision to eliminate some roles across Amazon." It further indicated that the layoffs were part of a broader restructuring effort. Internal discussions suggest that the layoffs could affect teams within Amazon's cloud computing unit, including services like Bedrock and Redshift, as well as retail operations connected to the Prime subscription service and delivery experiences. This latest round of job cuts follows an earlier reduction of 14,000 roles that occurred in October. Amazon's global workforce exceeds 1.5 million, with approximately 350,000 of those employees working in corporate roles. While the company has not yet responded to requests for comment, it has emphasized its commitment to supporting impacted employees through this transition. The support includes a severance package, job placement assistance, and a year of free access to AWS Skill Builder. Affected employees will also be invited to discuss their transition with HR representatives, providing a platform to address individual concerns. During the notification period, employees will retain access to internal communication tools, although their work duties will cease immediately. Amazon has encouraged those impacted to ensure they can access necessary resources on personal devices and update their personal email information for ongoing communication. The company has expressed understanding of the difficulty of this situation, providing resources through the Employee Assistance Portal for additional support. Beth Galetti concluded her message by assuring employees that help is available to navigate this challenging time.