Amazon is planning significant workforce changes as it expands the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies. The company announced it will lay off about 14,000 corporate employees this year, according to CNN. The eliminations are part of a broader effort to simplify operations so that the company can move more nimbly through technology-driven changes.

In a memo to employees, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the company will continue hiring in strategic areas in 2026 while also identifying “additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.” The memo was published on Amazon’s blog.

The reductions represent about 4% of the company’s corporate workforce, which includes more than 350,000 employees, CNN reported. Amazon layoffs are set to begin this week, and most affected workers will have 90 days to apply for internal roles. Those who cannot secure new positions will receive severance pay and benefits.

Galetti said Amazon is focusing on operating more efficiently amid rapid technological changes.

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet,” she said in the memo. “We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

CNN reported that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has previously said the company will rely more on AI to improve productivity and reshape work processes. He noted that as AI systems are implemented, some jobs will be reduced while new positions will be created in other areas.

Reuters reports the total number layoffs could reach 30,000, though Amazon has not confirmed that estimate.

This is not Amazon’s first major workforce reduction. According to CNN, in 2023, the company cut about 27,000 positions across divisions, including Amazon Stores, Amazon Web Services, and human resources. Jassy at the time attributed the cuts to a weaker global economy and efforts to reduce costs.