Amazon CEO says AI will reduce tech giant's corporate workforce
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he expects the company's corporate workforce to decline in the next few years as it uses AI to handle more tasks. PHOTO: REUTERS
Seattle – Amazon.com chief executive officer Andy Jassy says he expects the company's corporate workforce to decline in the next few years as the retail and cloud-computing giant uses artificial intelligence (AI) to handle more tasks.
Generative AI and AI-powered software agents 'should change the way our work is done,' Mr Jassy said in an email to employees on June 17 that laid out his thinking about how the emerging technology will transform the workplace.
'We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,' Mr Jassy wrote. 'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.'
From the start of the AI boom, people inside and outside the industry have raised concerns about the potential for AI to replace workers. Those concerns have only grown as tech companies introduce more sophisticated AI systems that can write code and field online tasks on a user's behalf.
Shopify told employees that requests for new headcount will require an explanation as to why AI can't do the job. Duolingo said it would 'gradually stop' using contractors to do work that AI can handle. And Microsoft recently announced a round of layoffs that hit software developers hardest.
Dario Amodei, CEO of OpenAI rival Anthropic, recently warned that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and cause unemployment to spike to as high as 20 per cent over the next five years.
Amazon, which has prioritised automation in logistics and headquarters roles for years, is investing heavily in AI. Mr Jassy, in his letter, rattled off some of those initiatives, including the Alexa+ voice software, a shopping assistant, and tools for developers and businesses sold by the Amazon Web Services cloud unit.
Inside the company, Amazon has used AI tools for inventory placement, customer service and product listings. Mr Jassy encouraged employees to 'experiment with AI whenever you can.'
'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company,' he said.
Amazon is the largest private US employer after Walmart, with 1.56 million employees as of the end of March. Most work in warehouses packing and shipping items, but about 350,000 of them have corporate jobs. BLOOMBERG
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