Amazon cuts more jobs as tech companies continue worker layoffs in favor of AI

The unending wheel of layoffs in the tech space is still rolling as Amazon confirmed more layoffs this week, this time in its Selling Partner Services division. This adds to a wave of tech-sector job cuts that has also involved LinkedIn and Cisco this week, as companies redirect budgets toward AI infrastructure.

The new set of layoffs at Amazon follow an initial wave of roughly 30,000 positions eliminated by the company across rounds announced October last year, and this January, plus a smaller cut to its robotics division in March. A spokesperson described the latest round as affecting a “relatively small number” of employees but did not disclose an exact figure.

“We regularly review our organizations to ensure we’re best set up to deliver on our goals,” the Amazon spokesperson said, adding that affected workers would receive transitional healthcare, a separation payment and job placement services.

Amazon’s Selling Partner Services division is the branch of the company that handles onboarding, logistics, and account management for the millions of third-party merchants operating on Amazon’s marketplace.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has spent two years pushing efficiency across the retail organization and warned last year that AI could help “reduce” the workforce over time.

LinkedIn and Cisco follow Amazon’s pattern

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn informed staff of layoffs on Wednesday, with plans to cut roughly 5% of its total workforce, equal to about 875 people, Reuters reported. The social networking platform for professionals employs more than 17,500 full-time workers all over the world.

LinkedIn CEO Daniel Shapero told employees in an internal memo that the cuts would affect the company’s engineering, marketing, and global business organization teams. He framed the planned layoffs around operating “more profitably” and shifting investment toward infrastructure, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the rationale was not for AI to replace jobs at LinkedIn specifically, as the company is planning shake-ups around where the business is growing. LinkedIn’s parent company, Microsoft, reported that the platform’s revenue rose 12% in the most recent quarter.

Cisco also announced almost 4,000 job layoffs the same day, representing about 5% of its workforce. The networking giant made the move while reporting record quarterly revenue and a fiscal fourth-quarter outlook of $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion, well above Wall Street expectations of about $15.8 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.

CEO Chuck Robbins told employees in a blog post that winning “in the AI era” requires “focus, urgency, and the discipline to continuously shift investment toward the areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest.” Cisco shares surged by more than 13% on Thursday following the announcement, Yahoo Finance reported.

A growing trend in the tech sector

Meta, Block, Oracle, Cloudflare and Coinbase are just a few of the tech companies that have announced workforce reductions in 2026. Block said in February it planned to eliminate nearly half its workforce, while Cloudflare unveiled a 20% cut last week.

Layoffs.fyi, a tracker for tech-sector job losses, has recorded more than 103,000 layoffs so far this year, according to Reuters. That figure is already approaching the 124,000 reductions the tracker counted for all of 2025.

The reasoning among all these companies is a known pivot toward AI. Cisco is ramping up its AI investment to support data centers in managing AI workloads. Its projected orders from hyperscale data center operators have nearly doubled to $9 billion for fiscal 2026, up from a prior target of $5 billion.

The message from corporate leadership in the tech sector has remained consistent over the past year. AI tools will allow smaller teams to accomplish more, and companies are trimming the workforce due to this transition. It remains unknown if these changes will lead to a more efficient production pipeline and stable economy in the long-term.

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