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Amazon has announced it will lay off 16,000 corporate employees as part of a sweeping restructuring effort.

Getting into it: The announcement was made in a memo to employees from Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology. She outlined that the layoffs would primarily impact corporate roles across divisions such as Prime Video, AWS, and human resources. U.S.-based workers affected by the cuts will have a 90-day window to apply for other internal roles before receiving severance packages. These packages will include transition support such as severance pay, outplacement services, and extended health insurance benefits, where applicable.

Amazon said that the job reductions are part of a broader strategy to streamline its corporate structure by reducing layers of management and bureaucracy. CEO Andy Jassy has previously pointed to generative AI as a key driver of future efficiency, indicating that many corporate roles could eventually be replaced by advanced AI systems.

These cuts come amid a larger trend of AI-driven layoffs across the tech industry, with other companies announcing similar reductions. Critics have raised concerns that while companies cite AI as a tool for innovation, it’s increasingly being used to justify job cuts even as profits soar.

Amazon’s own quarterly reports show nearly $21 billion in profit and more than $180 billion in revenue.