Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday he is anticipating artificial intelligence (AI) will reduce the technology company’s corporate workforce over the next few years.
In a blog post shared with Amazon employees Tuesday, Jassy explained how the company is rolling out more generative AI and agents for internal operations, which 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,” Jassy told employees. “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.”
Amazon has more than 1,000 generative AI services and applications in progress or being built, Jassy said, noting it is a “small fraction” of what the tech giant plans to build in total.
“We’re going to lean in further in the coming months,” Jassy said, adding, “We have strong conviction that AI agents will change how we all work and live.”
Jassy urged employees to educate themselves on AI by attending workshops and trainings and to use and experiment more with AI as the company works through the transition.
“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,” he said.
Amazon is among a series of technology companies investing more money and time into AI development for both internal and external operations.
Earlier this month, the company said it is planning to invest $10 billion into a campus in North Carolina to expand its cloud computing and AI infrastructure. And last week, it announced plans to invest at least $20 billion to build out two data centers in Pennsylvania.
Other leaders in the tech industry have similarly warned of AI’s impact on the workforce in recent months as the sector pushes ahead with the emerging tech.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told Axios last month he believes AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.
A Gallup survey released Monday found AI adoption in the overall workplace has nearly doubled over the past two years.
While more workers are embracing the emerging technology, concerns have been raised about its threat to their jobs being altered or eliminated as a result.
Although workplace AI use is increasing, Gallup found employees are no more likely to see themselves replaced by the technology soon. About 15 percent of employees said it is very or somewhat likely that automation, robots or AI will eliminate their job within the next five years, according to the survey.
