Amazon’s Culture Shock: Jassy’s “World’s Largest Startup” Vision Collides With 14,000 Layoffs

Amazon’s latest corporate overhaul has shaken morale across the company, as CEO Andy Jassy continues his push to remake the tech giant into what he calls “the world’s largest startup.”

The company confirmed 14,000 new layoffs last week—its largest cut yet—and insiders say another wave is planned for January after the annual re:Invent cloud conference. The reductions follow more than 27,000 job eliminations since 2022 and are expected to hit retail, human resources, and AWS divisions hardest.

Jassy has framed the cuts as a cultural reset, not a financial necessity, arguing that Amazon became too slow and layered after years of aggressive hiring. “We’re working hard to flatten our organization,” he told investors, echoing his recurring theme of stripping away bureaucracy to restore early-stage agility.

Employees say the reality feels far less entrepreneurial. Slack threads and Reddit forums are filled with memes mocking leadership’s “staying nimble” messaging, with one viral post depicting The Matrix’s Neo dodging bullets labeled “reducing layers.”

The company’s stock, which had underperformed major tech peers for much of the year, rebounded 14% following last week’s earnings beat, closing Monday at a record high. But inside Amazon, optimism is scarce. Staff describe growing pressure to deliver faster innovation—especially in AI—while coping with heavier workloads. Some current and former employees say morale has collapsed under the weight of “efficiency drives” that remove people but not responsibilities.

Jassy’s challenge now is to find Amazon’s next growth engine. E-commerce, AWS, and Prime continue to anchor the company, but efforts in healthcare, entertainment, grocery, and satellite internet have yet to yield major breakthroughs.

AWS faces rising pressure from Microsoft and Google, which are winning high-profile AI infrastructure deals. A $38 billion, seven-year cloud partnership with OpenAI, announced Monday, may help change that narrative.

Internally, AI has become both a corporate rallying cry and a source of anxiety. Employees are being urged—and in some cases evaluated—based on how they integrate AI into daily workflows.

Advocacy groups inside the company have pushed back, warning that Amazon is “forcing us to use AI while investing in a future where it’s easier to discard us.” Jassy insists the opposite, arguing that AI will make Amazon jobs “more exciting and fun.” But for thousands of employees watching colleagues exit, “fun” now feels like surviving the next round of cuts.