Amazon Layoffs 2026: 16,000 Corporate Roles Cut as Colleen Aubrey Email Misfire Rattles Teams and AMZN Stock Slips

Amazon layoffs are back in focus after the company said it is eliminating about 16,000 corporate roles in a fresh round of organizational cuts, while giving most U.S.-based employees time to seek internal transfers before departures become final. The reduction lands as Amazon continues to rework layers of management and decision-making, and as workers across multiple business lines brace for more changes in how the company hires, assigns work, and measures productivity.

Amazon said the cuts are part of an effort to reduce layers, increase ownership, and remove bureaucracy, following a similar reorganization effort the company began in October. The job reductions are described as global, with timelines varying outside the United States based on local requirements.

What Amazon said is changing and who gets a runway

In a message shared with employees Wednesday, Amazon said the reductions will impact approximately 16,000 roles across the company. For most U.S.-based employees whose roles are affected, Amazon said it will offer a 90-day window to look for a new job internally, though the timing may differ internationally. Employees who do not find an internal role or choose not to pursue one will receive transition support that can include severance pay, outplacement services, and health insurance benefits where applicable.

Amazon also said it will continue hiring and investing in strategic areas that it considers critical to its future, signaling that the cuts are not meant to be a blanket hiring freeze but a reshaping of where corporate headcount sits.

Some specifics have not been publicly clarified, including how many employees are affected in each business unit and country. A full public timeline has not been released for when every impacted team will complete notifications.

Colleen Aubrey, “Project Dawn,” and the communication stumble

The rollout was complicated by an internal communication error that reached some employees early and created confusion. An email tied to the reorganization, signed by Colleen Aubrey, referred to an internal effort known as Project Dawn and incorrectly suggested that certain employees had already been notified, before the planned notification process was complete. A meeting referenced in the message was later canceled, adding to uncertainty inside teams trying to understand what would happen next.

Aubrey is a senior leader in Amazon Web Services, and her involvement underscored how central AWS remains to the company’s staffing decisions even as Amazon pushes deeper into artificial intelligence and cloud-driven business services.

The reason for the early distribution of that message has not been stated publicly. Key terms have not been disclosed publicly around how internal communications will be adjusted for future reorganizations.

How a corporate layoff typically works at Amazon

Large-scale corporate cuts usually follow a repeatable sequence. Leaders finalize org designs and headcount targets, then human resources teams coordinate notifications, internal job-search periods, and separation packages. In the United States, many employers also prepare for compliance steps that can include formal notices depending on location and threshold rules, while trying to minimize disruption to customer-facing work.

Amazon’s approach in this round is designed to create an internal job bridge first, giving impacted employees a defined window to apply for open roles rather than treating the cut as an immediate exit. That mechanism matters because internal transfers can preserve institutional knowledge, reduce hiring needs elsewhere, and help employees avoid a full job search in a softening white-collar market.

What it means for employees, job seekers, and AMZN stock

Two groups feel the impact immediately: corporate employees and job seekers. For employees, the practical reality is a stressful sprint to identify openings, secure interviews, and land a new internal position before the window closes, while still delivering day-to-day work. For job seekers outside Amazon, the cuts can increase competition for tech and corporate roles in major hubs, especially if multiple companies are reducing staff at the same time.

Customers are another stakeholder group, particularly in businesses that rely on consistent account support, product iteration, and technical consulting. Even when service levels hold, reorganizations can slow decision cycles and shift points of contact, which is why companies often emphasize continuity plans alongside headcount changes.

In markets, the news landed against a backdrop of choppy trading. Amazon shares, traded under the symbol AMZN, were down about 0.6 percent in mid-afternoon Wednesday, hovering near $243 after moving between roughly $242 and $248 earlier in the session.

The next verifiable milestone is Amazon’s scheduled earnings event on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, when the company is set to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year results at 5 p.m. ET. That call is likely to be the next moment when Amazon leadership is pressed to explain how these cuts connect to long-term priorities, staffing plans, and where Amazon jobs will still expand even as corporate roles are reduced.