Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is taking heat for a memo he wrote highlighting the company's AI achievements and noting that the use of AI will ultimately reduce its workforce.
The actual part of the memo that mentions this reads as follows:
“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.”
He went on to say:
“Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company.”
Employees did not react well to Jassy's statements.
Workers in Amazon's corporate offices tore into Jassy's messages across internal Slack channels, with some calling for a shift in the company's mindset, while warning of the risks of relying too much on AI. Messages included:
- “There is nothing more motivating on a Tuesday than reading that your job will be replaced by AI in a few years.”
- One person wrote that middle management in general could be replaced by Amazon's AI app and “no one would notice.”
- “At least he said the quiet part out loud. We all knew it but now it's clearly part of the plan.”
- In regards to depending on AI too much, one employee wrote, “It's dangerous, and it will have real consequences.”
At the same time, per the Financial Post, Amazon is ordering thousands of U.S. employees via one-on-one meetings to relocate to Seattle, Arlington, and Washington DC, which in some cases would require them to move across the country. One employee said their manager informed the team to either begin their relocation process within 60 days or submit their resignation, with no severance offered.
So Amazon wants me to relocate for a job that I'm actively being told will soon be replaced by AI? That'll be a no from me, dawg.
Honestly, the AUDACITY of Amazon simultaneously shilling both agendas to employees at the same time is through the roof!
Then again, perhaps Amazon is depending on that insecurity, and these “relocation requests” are simply another round of silent layoffs. Andy Jassy wrote in his memo about AI resulting in a reduced workforce in the future, but in reality, it's already begun.
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