Amazon CEO says workforce to shrink amid AI rollout
The head of US IT giant Amazon says the company expects to shrink its workforce as artificial intelligence is applied to a wider range of tasks.
CEO Andy Jassy made the comments in a message to employees that was made public on Tuesday.
He said that over the next few years Amazon anticipates its corporate workforce will be reduced as it gains efficiencies from "using AI extensively across the company."
The message also notes that those who embrace the transition to AI "will be well-positioned to have high impact" ahead and can help "reinvent the company."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg and other media outlets reported on Wednesday that Microsoft is planning to eliminate thousands of jobs mainly in the sales division.
The reports say huge investments in AI development and cost-reduction efforts are behind the planned job cuts.
Earlier in May, Microsoft unveiled a plan to eliminate 6,000 jobs, or nearly 3 percent of its total workforce.
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an hour ago
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Glamping & Port Yui, as the 'glamorous camping' facility is called, opened for business in March 2022, roughly a year after the school closed. The reception area is in the former school library, where the lyrics of the school song still hang on the wall. The complex takes full advantage of the school facilities and has become popular for the variety of activities it offers. For example, guests can play basketball and other sports in the gymnasium and learn to make matcha-flavored sherbet in test tubes in the science and home economics rooms. The glamping site is about a 15-minute drive from the Tomei Expressway interchange. Iwa Connect Co., the Shimada-based operator of the complex, has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the city authorities. 'Business hotels account for the bulk of the available accommodations in Shimada,' Iwa Connect President Kazuhiro Fukazawa said. 'There used to be few facilities where families could stay.' Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Glamping & Port Yui achieved an 80 percent occupancy rate in its first year. The occupancy rate remained close to 70 percent in the summer of its second and third years. About 80 percent of the guests come from outside Shizuoka Prefecture, typically from Tokyo and Aichi and Kanagawa prefectures. A community space on the premises regularly hosts a market where locally grown vegetables and other products are sold. A SECOND LIFE In Miyawaka, Fukuoka Prefecture, the facilities of three closed schools have been transformed into AI research and development centers and other facilities. Miyawaka is located roughly midway between Fukuoka and Kita-Kyushu, about a 40-minute drive from either city. Trial Holdings Inc., a Fukuoka-based discount retailing giant that has a training facility in Miyawaka, approached the city about using the closed schools. The Miyawaka city government spent 1.15 billion yen ($7.98 million) to refurbish the former municipal Yoshikawa Elementary School, which closed in 2017. The AI research and development center opened in the school's facilities in 2021. City officials granted Trial Holdings the right to administer the facilities under a private finance initiative (PFI), which aims to utilize the know-how of the private sector in operating public facilities. The school's classrooms were remade into offices and meeting rooms, which are decorated with flasks, beakers and other classroom items, alongside a map of Japan. A farm produce shop was set up on the school's playground and a farm-fresh restaurant was opened in the gymnasium. Trial Holdings also acquired, this time for a fee, the facilities of two other schools that had closed—another elementary school and a junior high school. They are now being used for research and development on retail and physical distribution methods. 'We hope all this will promote long-term residency in the area,' said an official with the city government's secretarial and policy division. Elsewhere in Japan, other school buildings are finding success in their new lives as well. The former Hokuyo Elementary School in Koshimizu, Hokkaido, has been converted into a rice cracker factory with its own shop attached. The former Imazu-Nishi Elementary School in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, is now a mushroom farm, while the former Shiina Elementary School in Muroto, Kochi Prefecture, has been transformed into an aquarium, attracting many tourists. DETERIORATION LOOMS School closures have increased due to the extensive municipal mergers of the 2000s. Education ministry figures show an average of 440 schools closed annually during the 20 years through fiscal 2023. The annual number of school closures peaked at 597 in fiscal 2012 and has since been on the decline. Of the 8,850 schools that closed during those two decades, 7,612 had not been demolished as of May 2024. Three-quarters of those school facilities were being used in some way, but 1,951 were in disuse. The former Nagase Elementary School in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, which closed in 2008, became a call center for a major transport company the following year. However, the lease was discontinued in 2023, partly because of the age-related deterioration of the 40-year-old schoolhouse. A survey by the education ministry asked respondents to list reasons that uses for closed school facilities had not been decided upon. 'A lack of requests from local communities,' and 'age-related deterioration of buildings,' were both cited in more than 40 percent of the cases. 'It is essential to enlist the help of the private sector to use closed school facilities effectively so they will not be left neglected as a 'negative legacy,' but will instead be used for regional revitalization,' said Toru Hatakeyama of the Organization for Urban-Rural Interchange Revitalization. Because leaving schools and other public facilities disused presents security risks—possible collapse during an earthquake or crimes such as trespassing—the internal affairs ministry in fiscal 2025 began allowing about half of demolition costs for these buildings to be covered by the central government's local allocation tax. Hatakeyama pointed out that if an effective use cannot be found for these closed school facilities, local governments have no choice but to take responsibility and demolish them. (This article was written by Yoshiko Aoyama, Michiko Yoshida and Yoshinobu Motegi.)
