Details Emerge from Amazon’s Massive Layoffs: Thousands Receive Early-Morning “Termination” Messages

According to Business Insider, several Amazon employees learned through text messages early Tuesday morning that they had been laid off.

Insiders revealed that Amazon sent out two separate text messages in the early hours of Tuesday local time, informing affected staff that their positions had been eliminated.

One message urged employees to check their personal or work email before heading to the office, while the other advised those who did not receive an email about their role to contact the help desk.

Sources explained that these messages were sent shortly after the email notifications to prevent laid-off employees from discovering their office access cards no longer worked upon arrival. This approach mirrors what has been observed in recent large-scale layoffs at companies like Google and Tesla, where terminated employees found their access restricted without prior warning.

Reports indicate that Amazon has eliminated approximately 14,000 positions in this round of layoffs, aiming to streamline operations and “accelerate innovation.” In the U.S., many of the affected employees were retail managers, continuing a trend of job cuts within the company’s retail division.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Head of Human Resources, sent a message to affected employees—later shared internally on Slack—stating that they will continue receiving full pay and benefits for 90 days and will also be granted severance packages.

In a blog post published the same day, Galetti emphasized that the layoffs were influenced by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. She explained that although Amazon’s business performance remains strong, the company must adapt to technological shifts. “We must remember that the world is changing rapidly,” she wrote. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology since the internet, empowering companies to innovate at unprecedented speed across both existing and new markets.”