Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has issued a stark message to employees: Artificial intelligence will reduce the company’s corporate workforce in the coming years. In a blog post shared internally and later made public, Jassy explained that as Amazon rolls out more generative AI and autonomous agents, the nature of work will shift significantly — automating certain tasks and diminishing the need for some roles.
“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” Jassy wrote, citing expected efficiency gains. He noted that AI will also create new kinds of roles, but the net effect is likely to be a leaner corporate staff.
Jassy wrote that employees should learn how to use AI tools, experiment, and figure out “how to get more done with scrappier teams.”
Employee reaction was swift, with Business Insider reporting internal backlash on Amazon’s Slack channels. The company has already laid off 27,000 workers since 2022.
Jassy positioned AI as transformative not just for Amazon but across industries. “It will change how we all work and live,” he said, forecasting “billions” of AI agents emerging across sectors.
“I anticipate many more memos like this from CEOs over the coming year,” said Paul Roetzer, founder and CEO of Cleveland-based companies Marketing AI Institute, which helps marketers build a competitive advantage with AI, and SmarterX, which offers AI research and consulting.
“Yes, there will be companies that turn growth and innovation into new jobs, some that we can’t imagine yet,” he said. “But, for even more companies, AI at scale equates to fewer people doing the same jobs in the near term. It won’t be evenly distributed by industry, but I would expect this to be felt across most industries in the next 1 to 3 years.”
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna recently revealed that the company has leveraged AI agents to automate tasks previously handled by hundreds of HR professionals who have been replaced. The shift has allowed IBM to redirect resources toward hiring in software development, sales, and marketing.
Krishna’s remarks came as organizations across several industries are assessing how AI technologies are influencing workforce structures and human capital strategies. AI agents — autonomous tools capable of executing tasks such as spreadsheet analysis, research, and email drafting — are beginning to play a larger role in enterprise operations.
Although broad-based layoffs due to AI have not yet materialized across the economy, many business leaders are rethinking headcount strategies and pausing hiring in roles deemed vulnerable to automation. The IT sector, in particular, has seen a contraction in workforce numbers as AI adoption intensifies.
SHRM’s recently released Jobs at Risk data brief found that more than 19 million jobs face high or very high risk of displacement due to automation. A total of 12.6% of U.S. jobs face high or very high automation displacement risk, confirming the pressing need for reskilling initiatives tailored to vulnerable employee populations, according to the data brief. The share of employment facing high or very high automation displacement risk reached up to nearly 20% in business and financial operations, including HR.
Economists agree that AI will alter the labor market — but how, and to what extent, remains uncertain.
AI+HI Approach
With industries and occupations increasingly affected by rapid AI advancements, SHRM is urging organizations to adopt its AI + HI = ROI strategy, combining artificial intelligence with human intelligence to yield return on investment and build a resilient and adaptive workforce.
As AI reshapes operational processes, HR’s role in guiding organizational change and workforce planning is more critical than ever.
Nichol Bradford, executive in residence for AI+HI at SHRM, said that the way for HR to prove its value to the organization will be through acting as a strategic business partner. HR will also help lead and manage the transition into becoming an AI organization.
“Many organizations have been focused on efficiency, but studies show that just dropping AI in without training or changing the roles and workflows won’t be successful,” she said. “HR can play a vital role partnering with managers and business leaders to conduct task and role analysis, not just to revamp jobs but to look at how the work flows within the organization. If HR can do that, they will have a valued job.”
Bradford said that HR could also be responsible for the ethical use of AI. “That’s because the employee life cycle is tended by HR,” she said. “HR will have to understand and lean into advising the organization, answering employee questions and concerns, and motivating employees during the transition.”
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