AI reshaping Amazon and the wider tech layoff wave

Amazon cut about 16,000 employees in January (after a prior round of roughly 14,000)—the steepest layoffs in its history—as it pivots around AI. Across the tech sector, roughly 140,000 U.S. jobs have been cut this year, with AI repeatedly cited as a driver. Workers describe a tough, noisy job market—some land roles at Apple or startups, others take pay cuts or switch fields—while Amazon says the reductions are to boost speed and efficiency and that it continues hiring in strategic areas and in lower-cost regions like India.