Amazon to cut 14,000 jobs: "AI is a time bomb waiting to explode in the jobs market"
AMAZON is set to cut as many as 14,000 corporate jobs as experts warn AI is a “time bomb waiting to explode” in the jobs market.
Impacted people and teams will hear from leadership on Tuesday, it was announced.
It's not clear what the impact on the 75,000-strong UK workforce is yet.
Tech companies have announced almost 130,000 job cuts so far this year, according to layoffs.fyi.
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has been blamed for the cuts.
In a message sent to staff, Amazon's senior vice president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, alluded to the criticism that the company is cutting jobs while profiting billions in its latest results.
"Some may ask why we're reducing roles when the company is performing well," she wrote.
“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.”
AI experts said AI is a “time bomb waiting to explode” in the jobs market.
Colette Mason, Author & AI Solution Architect at London-based Clever Clogs AI, said: "Amazon’s decision to cut 14,000 corporate jobs in its AI drive marks a shift not just in what work gets done, but in who gets to do it. When a company cites ‘high-tech innovation’ as justification for layoffs while still posting strong profits, the story shifts from the future of work to the replacement of work.
“For the UK, it is a warning shot: policy and education systems must move faster to protect white-collar workers now in AI’s firing line. ‘Act first, apologise later’ might be a Silicon Valley mantra, but in the UK marketplace it is an AI time bomb waiting to explode among disillusioned customers and beleaguered remaining staff.”
Mitali Deypurkaystha, AI Strategist at Newcastle upon Tyne-based Impact Icon AI, said “we didn’t pass peak employment because AI failed but because it worked”.
She added: "Business leaders adopted AI for efficiency gains. Few asked what would happen if it succeeded. Most people make a Plan B for failure, not success. Yet, the biggest failures often follow the biggest wins.
“Efficiency inevitably means fewer human hours, so the first ripple is a hiring freeze, the next, job losses.”
Deypurkaystha continued: "The real crisis isn’t AI, it’s short-sighted leadership from both business owners and AI consultants. Responsible AI adoption means planning for success, and not just failure: helping leaders discover new, profitable processes to redeploy saved time and energy.
“In the short term, AI efficiency wins. In the long term, it risks hollowing out the very talent pipeline that sustains your organisation. No one needs to lose their job to AI, but they will if leaders and consultants fixate on efficiency. As a leader, ask yourself: are your AI efficiencies helping you reimagine human potential or replace it?”
Kate Underwood, Managing Director / HR Director at Southampton-based Kate Underwood HR and Training, said AI is used as an excuse to cut jobs.
She added: "Blaming AI for 14,000 job cuts makes for a convenient headline, but it misses the point. The technology is not swinging the axe, the boardroom is. It is easier to say ‘AI made us do it’ than to face hard questions about strategy, ethics, or how people are valued.
"AI should support talent, not replace it. When businesses chase efficiency without empathy, they may save money today but risk losing trust and good people tomorrow. The real story is not that AI is taking jobs, it is that leadership must stop hiding behind it."
Sam Alsop-Hall, Co-Founder at Birmingham-based Clive Henry Group, said we “may well have passed peak employment”.
He continued: "AI and automation are reshaping the jobs market, and the effects are starting to bite.
"Roles that once filled quickly, like accounts assistants, customer service handlers, stock clerks and data entry staff, are increasingly being replaced by AI tools and robotic process automation.
"Company owners are now scrutinising every vacancy to see if AI can do the job instead, because you don’t pay National Insurance on a robot, and machines don’t take long-term sick leave or annual leave.
"This shift is being compounded by Rachel Reeves’ catastrophic National Insurance hike, which has made it even harder for businesses to justify new hires when margins are already under pressure.
“We may well have passed peak employment, as technology and policy together reshape the workforce without a clear plan for reskilling or redeployment.”
