Amazon CEO warns agentic AI is coming for corporate jobs

Staff told to get curious about artificial intelligence as white collar jobs come under pressure

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Andy Jassy, Amazon

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has challenged his staff to stay curious about AI. Otherwise, their jobs will be at risk.

In a memo to his employees later published to the company website, Jassy said AI is going to ensure that Amazon can do the same work with fewer people.

He wrote: “As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs. 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.”

Those who want to continue working at the tech giant will have to become proficient in AI tools and become more productive.

Jassy is not alone in warning of job losses as AIs take over work. BT Group is already in the midst of a multi-year reorganisation that affects between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs. CEO Allison Kirkby said last weekend that those plans do not yet unlock the full potential of AI. In short: more layoffs will follow.

This picture is not surprising. Attendees at Vivatech in Paris last week heard how executives are struggling with AI because it will directly affect their workforce. Directors of multinational companies are beginning to see that AI is becoming an HR problem. A period of layoffs and retraining is coming, for example, was heard from directors of LVMH and ManPower.

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