Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has encouraged employees to engage with artificial intelligence
(AI), while also acknowledging that the growing use of the technology will likely result in a smaller corporate workforce in the coming years.
In a memo sent to staff on Tuesday, Jassy urged employees to “be curious about AI,” emphasizing the importance of adapting to the technology as it becomes more deeply integrated across Amazon’s operations.
He noted that AI will bring significant efficiency improvements, which will likely reduce the need for certain corporate roles. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Jassy explained. “While it’s difficult to predict the exact outcome over time, we anticipate a reduction in our total corporate workforce in the next few years due to the widespread use of AI.”
Amazon is among several major technology companies outlining their strategies for leveraging AI, amid ongoing discussions about the potential for automation to displace workers globally.
The adoption of AI tools has surged as advancements in machine learning have enabled chatbots and other systems to generate code, text, and images with minimal input. However, this progress has also raised concerns about job displacement, particularly in entry-level white-collar roles.
Dario Amodei, CEO of AI firm Anthropic, recently told Axios that AI could eliminate up to half of all entry-level office jobs. Geoffrey Hinton, a leading AI pioneer often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” expressed similar concerns in a recent podcast, questioning the argument that AI-driven job losses will be balanced by the creation of new roles.
“This is a fundamentally different type of technology,” Hinton said. “If it can handle all routine intellectual work, what kinds of new jobs will it leave for humans? It would take a highly skilled role to remain unaffected.”
Amazon employed over 1.5 million people globally by the end of last year, making it the second-largest employer in the United States after Walmart. Approximately 350,000 of those employees work in corporate positions, while the majority are in warehouse and logistics roles.
Jassy highlighted in his memo that AI is already being deployed across “virtually every corner of the company.” He anticipates that AI agents will eventually handle everyday tasks such as shopping and household management. “Many of these agents haven’t been developed yet, but they’re on the way and quickly,” he said, adding that employees who adapt to this shift will be better positioned for future success within Amazon.
He also shared that over 500,000 sellers on Amazon’s platform are already using AI tools to generate product content, and that advertisers are increasingly adopting the company’s AI solutions.
Found this article interesting? Follow us on X(Twitter) ,Threads and FaceBook to read more exclusive content we post.
