Amazon global layoffs likely to affect 500–700 jobs in India

Amazon’s latest round of global job cuts is expected to impact its India operations, with around 500 to 700 employees likely to be affected, according to sources cited by Business Standard.

The technology major has announced another round of layoffs, this time planning to cut around 16,000 jobs worldwide, following the layoff of 14,000 employees in October last year. In India, the impact is expected to be felt across teams at Amazon Web Services and its retail operations.

Sources said one of the reasons for the impact in India could be linked to the company’s performance during the last two to three sales events, where it did not achieve the desired market outcomes, as reported by Business Standard.

An email sent to Amazon’s India team did not comment specifically on the local impact of the layoffs. Instead, the company shared a note from Beth Galetti, senior vice president of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, who stated that the reductions would affect approximately 16,000 roles across the company and that efforts were being made to support employees whose positions were impacted.

Galetti also stated that the company does not intend to carry out such reductions on a regular basis, adding that teams would continue to evaluate ownership, speed and capacity to innovate for customers and make adjustments where necessary, particularly in a rapidly changing environment.

India has emerged as one of Amazon’s key global talent hubs over the past decade, hosting large engineering, product development and operations teams that support both domestic and international markets.

According to data from Layoffs.fyi, nearly 269 companies worldwide laid off 123,941 employees in 2025.

Amazon’s layoffs form part of a broader restructuring and efficiency programme launched by chief executive Andy Jassy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has been trimming its workforce since 2022, cutting more than 27,000 positions over the past two years, with recent rounds affecting its cloud, retail, devices and communications divisions.

Jassy has previously stated that he intends to streamline Amazon’s corporate hierarchy by reducing managerial layers to “remove complexity and flatten organisations.”

According to a Reuters report earlier in 2025, Amazon’s overall job cuts were predicted to affect up to 30,000 positions across human resources, devices and services, operations, and other departments. Smaller job reductions have already taken place this year, including limited layoffs within the company’s communications and sustainability teams in January.