Inside Amazon layoffs: locked inboxes, leaders disappearing mid-day as 16,000 roles are cut

Amazon has confirmed another major round of layoffs, affecting around 16,000 employees across the company, as senior leadership framed the move as part of a longer-term restructuring effort, while accounts from employees and external observers painted a far harsher picture of how the cuts were carried out.

The layoffs were announced by Beth Galetti, senior vice president of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, who stated that the company has been working to reduce layers, increase ownership and remove bureaucracy. She informed employees that some teams completed these changes last year, while others concluded the process more recently. Galetti stated that Amazon would continue hiring in strategic areas and added that broad rounds of layoffs every few months were not part of the company’s plan.

Also Read: Amazon Layoffs 2026

For employees impacted in the United States, Amazon is offering a 90-day window to seek another role internally, along with severance pay, continued health benefits and job placement support for those who exit the company. While the process appeared structured on paper, several employees said the experience felt abrupt and impersonal.

On LinkedIn, Dwijen Desai, a software development engineer at Amazon Web Services, informed that he was laid off after nearly six years at the company. He stated that he had worked on what he described as the backbone of the cloud and said he was now open to work and seeking SDE II roles.

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Other employees reported entire teams being eliminated. Yi Shen, a senior software development engineer at Amazon, stated on LinkedIn that after almost eight years at the company, both he and his entire team were impacted by the latest round of layoffs.

External criticism of the process has been sharp. Workforce strategist Amanda Goodall described the layoffs as ugly and claimed on X that affected employees experienced partially disabled access, erased calendars, locked email inboxes and work alerts continuing even after their roles had been terminated. She stated that the cuts were not performance-based and added that top performers and profitable teams had also been affected.

The Amazon layoffs are pretty ugly.

People are finding out they’re gone in pieces: • access half-working • calendars erased before conversations happen • leaders disappearing mid-day • inboxes visible but locked • work still paging after roles are dead

This isn’t… — Amanda Goodall (@thejobchick) January 28, 2026

Goodall further stated that some layoffs took place just ahead of vesting periods and that remote workers were among the first to be impacted, adding that the approach reflected efficiency in practice marked by limited communication, minimal explanation and a lack of accountability.