Highlights
- AWS workers receive accidental email revealing they've lost jobs in what's dubbed 'Project Dawn'.
- Meeting invitation containing draft redundancy message sent in error by senior vice-president before being cancelled.
- Fresh cuts follow October announcement of 14,000 corporate role reductions as Amazon reverses pandemic hiring spree.
Amazon has inadvertently disclosed plans for another wave of global job cuts after workers received an erroneous email revealing redundancies before any official announcement, exposing the tech giant's latest cost-cutting measures.
Employees at Amazon Web Services (AWS) received a meeting invitation on Tuesday from a senior executive that mistakenly contained a draft email informing staff in the United States, Canada and Costa Rica they had already been made redundant. The meeting was subsequently cancelled.
The message, signed by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice-president of applied AI solutions at AWS, referred to the layoffs internally as "Project Dawn". "Changes like this are hard on everyone," Aubrey wrote in the email seen by Reuters and Bloomberg.
"These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organisation and AWS for future success."
The draft message referenced a separate communication from Amazon's human resources chief that apparently hadn't been sent yet, adding to the confusion surrounding the premature disclosure.
Wider job cuts
Amazon announced 14,000 corporate role cuts in October, and recent media reports suggested the Seattle-based multinational was preparing a second round of redundancies.
However, the company has not officially confirmed these latest cuts, with AWS's cloud computing and retail divisions reportedly targeted.
The accidental revelation comes as Amazon attempts to reverse its pandemic-era hiring surge while slimming down operations across its 1.5 million-strong global workforce.
Chief executive Andy Jassy has previously cautioned white-collar employees that artificial intelligence could replace their positions within coming years.
The disclosure coincides with United Parcel Service announcing plans to eliminate up to 30,000 positions this year, building on previous reductions.
UPS has been distancing itself from lower-margin Amazon deliveries, describing the tech giant's business as "extraordinarily dilutive" to profits despite Amazon being its largest customer.
Amazon declined to comment on the leaked email when approached by media outlets.
