Amazon’s latest round of layoffs has hit New York City hard. According to official records from the New York State Department of Labor, the company has slashed 660 jobs across nine corporate office locations in Manhattan during its massive October job reduction drive.
In late October, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, shared a company-wide blog post announcing that Amazon is undergoing major organisational restructuring. She said the company would eliminate about 14,000 corporate roles, with the goal of simplifying operations, reducing bureaucracy, and investing in its most promising areas.
Amazon NYC job cut breakdown
According to DOL data cited by the New York Post, the job losses in New York City affected only corporate and tech employees, with no warehouse or delivery staff included, the company confirmed. Reportedly, two offices bore most of the brunt. 233 layoffs came from Amazon’s office at 450 West 33rd Street, near Hudson Yards, while 182 occurred at 424 Fifth Avenue, the landmark Lord & Taylor building that Amazon purchased for $1 billion in 2020 to serve as its New York Tech Hub. Together, these two sites accounted for more than half of the total layoffs reported in the city.
The Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue, which now serves as Amazon’s New York Tech Hub, employs around 2,000 people. The remaining layoffs were distributed across several locations. 91 at 410 Tenth Avenue, 58 at 7 West 34th Street, 41 at 330 West 34th Street, 38 at 237 Park Avenue, nine at 315 Park Avenue South, seven at 215 Park Avenue South, and one position at 6 West 35th Street. Despite these reductions, Amazon confirmed that none of these offices are being shut down.
Amazon NYC layoffs ‘a head scratcher,’ say analysts
Industry experts expressed surprise over the scale of Amazon’s cuts, especially given the ongoing demand for skilled tech workers. “I believe the vast majority of these cuts are tech layoffs for Amazon, and NYC was not spared,” Dan Ives, a senior analyst at Wedbush Securities, told the NY Post. “The size of the Amazon cuts remains a head scratcher given the battle for talent and the AI revolution in motion.”
Earlier in an official statement, Beth Galetti said, “We’re reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs,” Galetti wrote on October 28. Insiders later told Reuters that Amazon could cut up to 30,000 corporate jobs globally, nearly 9% of its total office-based workforce.
The restructuring efforts are being carried out under the direction of CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from Jeff Bezos in 2021. Since then, Jassy has led multiple rounds of layoffs.
Amazon executives say the latest job cuts are part of a plan to make the company more agile as AI reshapes industries. According to eMarketer analyst Sky Canaves, “This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realising enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force.”
According to reports, more layoffs are expected in January 2026, after the holiday season.
Globally, Amazon employs around 1.55 million people, and the 30,000 job cuts will affect nearly 10% of its corporate staff.