Business Insider interviewed 12 Amazon employees on how layoffs, AI mandates, and RTO policies are reshaping work and culture there

Business Insider interviewed 12 current and former Amazon employees about the companywide changes reshaping their work and personal lives, with layoffs emerging as the most impactful shift. Amazon has cut more than 57,000 corporate employees since doubling its workforce between 2019 and 2021, leaving remaining employees anxious and facing stricter performance reviews. On AI, employees describe a mixed picture, with some like software engineer Andrew Z. Chen saying he can no longer imagine a workday without AI tools, while a former LA-based product manager said adoption was driven more by “fear of irrelevance than excitement for technological progress,” with AI outputs occasionally causing errors in documents and emails that weren't sufficiently reviewed. The five-day return-to-office policy is playing out unevenly depending on managers and locations, with one Seattle-based employee in his 20s describing being “more burned out than I've ever been,” while a data scientist who lives seven minutes from his office said the short commute has actually helped him focus on his career.