Latest news with #AndyJassy
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Amazon shuts down Shanghai AI research lab: report
Amazon is shutting down its Shanghai artificial intelligence lab, which was established by its cloud services arm in 2018, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday (Jul 23). The report comes after Reuters first reported last week that the company had cut at least hundreds of jobs globally in Amazon Web Services, just a month after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned of a workforce reduction due to adoption of generative AI tools. In response to a query on the FT report on the Shanghai AI lab, an Amazon spokesperson reiterated it was eliminating some roles across AWS. The spokesperson did not comment on the FT report or confirm that the Shanghai AI lab was being shut down. Amazon said on Wednesday the AWS role reductions are not primarily because of AI. Amazon's decision to shut the lab also comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, with the US increasing its scrutiny of American companies operating in China. Wang Minjie, a scientist in the Shanghai lab, said his team was 'being dissolved due to strategic adjustments amid US-China tensions,' the newspaper said, citing a post on WeChat. Reuters could not confirm the headcount at the AWS Shanghai research lab. REUTERS
Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Amazon salaries revealed: How much the cloud and retail giant pays software engineers, data scientists, and more
AI is reshaping workforces across tech, including at Amazon. At the cloud and tech giant, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said the technology will inevitably spell job cuts, as well as increased hiring in areas like robotics and AI. In a June memo, Jassy encouraged staffers to "use and experiment with AI whenever you can," sparking backlash. Staff at certain Amazon subsidiaries must show how they use AI when applying for promotions, Business Insider previously reported. At the same time, Amazon is making a massive AI hiring push, according to data from AI job search platform Jobright. It's advertising for three times as many AI jobs as Meta, Google, and Microsoft, according to the report. Amazon's AI embrace is in line with Jassy's ongoing push to build an increasingly efficient, startup-like workforce. This has manifested in return-to-office, flattening management layers, and revamped pay models to reward high performers. Most recently, the e-commerce giant rolled out a stricter performance review process with culture as a key metric. Amazon has 1.5 million employees and onboarded roughly 11,300 foreign workers in the first quarter of 2025, according to publicly available filings that companies must make when hiring outside of the US. The filings reveal the salaries that Amazon pays for those roles, though the data only refers to foreign hires and doesn't include equity or other benefits that Amazon employees can receive in addition to their base pay. A software engineer working in the company's Amazon Web Services cloud division can pocket as much as $185,000, according to the data, while a software development engineer at can make $263,700. At data scientists and financial analysts can make as much as $230,900 and $204,028, respectively, while technical product managers can take home as much as $235,200. An Amazon spokesperson told BI that compensation packages are based on role and level and informed by location, performance, and other factors. The spokesperson said compensation is intended to attract and motivate the highest-caliber talent, and the company regularly reviews its packages to ensure they're competitive. Here's what Amazon is paying across key roles that Amazon most frequently hires from abroad, based on applications from the first quarter of 2025. Amazon Data Services Software Development Engineer: $108,826 to $223,600 Amazon Development Center US Software Development Engineer: $95,493 to $260,600 Amazon Web Services Business Intelligence Engineer: $96,678 to $176,012 Enterprise Account Engineer: $103,605 to $238,965 Professional Services: $105,997 to $218,200 Software Development Engineer: $84,094 to $223,600 Support Engineer-External: $63,835 to $160,000 Services Applied Scientist: $83,491 to $260,000 Business Analyst: $79,518 to $143,100 Business Intelligence Engineer: $193,200 Data Engineer: $70,262 to $236,344 Data Scientist: $92,040 to $230,900 Financial Analyst: $94,300 to $204,028 Manager, Software Development: $148,950 to $287,700 Product Manager: $109,782 to $200,000 Product Manager - Technical: $136,843 to $235,200 Program Manager: $81,600 to $162,700 Quality Assurance Engineer: $86,320 to $185,000 Software Development Engineer: $85,384 to $263,700 Supply Chain Manager: $77,200 to $168,000 System Development Engineer: $105,997 to $198,000
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AI to bring ‘massive disruption' to contact center workforces, Forrester says
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Forrester expects AI agents will remake the customer service workforce as they begin to handle more complex customer inquiries, the analyst firm said in a report released last month. Virtual assistants will replace 'vast swaths of customer service agents,' Forrester said. Humans, meanwhile, will take on supervisory roles to ensure that AI agents meet business needs and help chatbots when they cannot satisfy customer demands. AI-led customer service will blur 'the lines between previously siloed functions' and prompt 'organizations to create new roles and redefine existing ones,' Forrester said. Dive Insight: More and more businesses are relying on AI-powered chatbots to provide customer service and support, aiming to cut contact center costs and curb the use of human agents. As use of the technology is fine tuned and expanded, AI will soon transform contact center staffing and operations. Some brands have been outspoken about this change. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last month that AI will improve customer experience but reduce the number of people required for today's jobs. Forrester, too, sees a drastic change — and reduction — of workforce roles. 'In the not so distant future, customer service will be led by automation supervisors and specialists, who will manage and optimize AI based on enterprise goals of cost, revenue, and profitability,' the report says. 'Humans in these strategic roles will be responsible for guiding, optimizing, and orchestrating AI workflows.' Companies will need to educate staff on what it means to be the human in that loop and work alongside AI, Christina McAllister, senior analyst at Forrester, told CX Dive last week. Humans will be responsible for fine-tuning AI by intervening when virtual assistants get stuck, Forrester predicts. However, this role will 'decline naturally as AI learns lessons from human-assisted cases.' Customer service leaders will increasingly act as automation supervisors as the role of human agents declines, according to Forrester. Such supervisors will analyze performance gaps, address knowledge deficits and adapt workflows to ensure high-quality outcomes. 'By approaching operational oversight with a systemic mindset, automation supervisors will play a critical role in aligning AI performance with business objectives,' the report says. Contact centers may also employ process architects to embed expertise in agentic workflows. These process architects would work alongside machine learning engineers, application developers and subject-matter experts. 'As low-code tools emerge to support these use cases, a new class of citizen developers will step in to bridge the gap,' the report says. As they rely less on human agents, customer service leaders will actively monitor and adjust the allocation of resources in real-time to optimize performance rather than focus on reducing costs. Organizations, however, will continue to rely on humans for high-value interactions that require 'empathy, expertise, nuanced problem-solving, and relationship-building,' the report says. As a result, customer service leaders will need to intentionally adjust their workforce's skills and roles as they adopt AI. 'Those who view their organization as a set of capabilities delivered by people with skills, rather than as a collection of roles, adapt more easily to new ways of working,' the report says. 'As you prepare for the transition to AI-first operations, think beyond today's defined roles and see what skills, experience, and talent can transfer to future roles.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Tahawul Tech
2 days ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Amazon announces job cuts across its AWS Unit
Amazon is said to have cut hundreds of jobs in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit, as the company continues to invest billions in its data centre infrastructure as part of an AI push. Reuters reported Amazon confirmed the job cuts, but it did not provide an exact number. The news agency reported in June Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned the use of generative AI would lead to a reduction in its workforce. 'We've made the difficult business decision to eliminate some roles across particular teams in AWS', a representative for Amazon told Reuters. 'These decisions are necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimise resources to deliver innovation for our customers'. Several impacted employees told Reuters yesterday (17 July) they had lost their jobs and their computers were deactivated. Amazon spent $24.3 billion on capex in Q1, down from $26.3 billion a year ago. For the full year of fiscal 2025, Amazon expects to outlay $105 billion in capex which will primarily go towards AI capabilities and AWS expansion. Source: Mobile World Live Image Credit: Amazon
Canada News.Net
3 days ago
- Business
- Canada News.Net
AI adoption triggers job cuts at Amazon Web Services unit
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Amazon has laid off hundreds of employees within its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing division, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as the company continues to restructure in response to the growing use of artificial intelligence across its business. The job cuts follow a warning last month from CEO Andy Jassy, who said that generative AI tools would lead to workforce reductions as businesses automate more tasks and rethink staffing needs. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but did not provide a specific number. "We've made the difficult business decision to eliminate some roles across particular teams in AWS," the spokesperson said. "These decisions are necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers." Several AWS teams were affected, including at least one group known as "specialists", who work directly with customers to develop and sell cloud-based services. Employees told Reuters they received emails Thursday morning notifying them of their termination and the deactivation of their work accounts. While the full scope of the layoffs is unclear, they are part of a broader effort by Amazon to reduce what Jassy has described as "excess bureaucracy" within the company. The company has also cut roles in other divisions in recent months, including its books, devices, and services business and its Wondery podcast unit. As of March, Amazon employed 1.6 million people globally and has joined other major tech firms—such as Microsoft, Meta, and CrowdStrike—in announcing layoffs this year. Many companies are accelerating their adoption of AI to write code and automate routine tasks, prompting shifts in workforce needs. Despite the job cuts, AWS continues to grow. Sales rose 17 percent year-over-year in the first quarter to US$29.3 billion, with operating income up 23 percent to $11.5 billion.
