A blunder by Amazon saw an unintended message sent to AWS workers on Tuesday, laying bare planned organisational upheaval at the e-commerce titan. Insiders predict the firm will soon confirm sweeping redundancies hitting its office staff this week, with the cloud computing arm and retail branches in the firing line.
The gaffe-ridden dispatch came from Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at Amazon Web Services. “Changes like this are hard on everyone,” she wrote in the email seen by media outlets. “These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success.”
Her note pointed to comments by HR chief Beth Galetti and confirmed that “impacted colleagues in our organization” had received notice. Bearing the header “Project Dawn” and quickly tagged as “canceled,” the email hinted at a panicked recall, though the initiative’s purpose stays murky.
Spokespeople for Amazon offered no prompt response to media queries. The cuts build on 14,000 corporate roles axed last October, with leaders vowing to press on through 2026 by stripping out redundant management tiers.
President and CEO Andy Jassy cast these moves as vital to slash bureaucracy, while forecasting last June that AI efficiencies would trim corporate numbers further. That same Tuesday, the company unveiled a grocery revamp, set to shutter Fresh supermarkets and Go convenience stores while ramping up Whole Foods outlets and online delivery.
Grocery leader Jason Buechel urged staff to embrace sharper “deliberate choices” for customer wins, and flagged a new “grocery quality” leadership post amid wider reshuffles.
Amazon will disclose fourth-quarter results after markets close on 5 February.