New York, January 23, 2026, 17:26 EST — After-hours
- Amazon shares climbed roughly 2% in after-hours trading following reports that the company is planning additional corporate job cuts.
- The cuts may begin as soon as next week, contributing to a wider effort to slash about 30,000 corporate jobs.
- Investors await updates on AWS demand and costs as Amazon’s next earnings report approaches.
Amazon.com (AMZN) shares climbed roughly 2% in after-hours trading Friday, closing at $239.16. The boost came after a Reuters report said Amazon plans another round of corporate layoffs starting as early as Tuesday. The cuts could impact Amazon Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and HR as the company aims to reduce around 30,000 corporate positions. 1
The report is significant as investors are pressing big tech to tighten the reins. With spending climbing across the sector, cutting headcount remains the simplest cost-control move.
For Amazon, the issue isn’t just the cut but what it implies. Is this a straightforward trimming of excess layers, or a sign that growth is slowing in areas once known for hiring aggressively?
Some observers expect the upcoming AWS layoffs to hit tech roles hardest. Scott Bickley at Info-Tech Research said, “This announcement should not be a shock to anyone.” Former Amazon director Mohan Mulund predicted “more than half of them will be AWS people,” pointing to slower growth. CEO Andy Jassy described earlier cuts as “not really financially driven” but rather about “culture,” blaming layers of bureaucracy. 2
Grocery made a comeback on Friday’s tape. Morgan Stanley’s Brian Nowak pointed out that third-party data showed Amazon’s meat and perishables sales doubled year-over-year in certain weeks during the latter half of 2025. He noted the growth is “broad-based and across income cohorts.” Nowak kept Amazon as a “top pick” with a $315 price target, while warning that competitive pressure is rising for Instacart and DoorDash. Amazon still lags Walmart in online grocery sales. 3
Late Thursday, AWS faced its own hiccup. The AWS Health Dashboard reported confirmed network connectivity problems hitting several services in the US-EAST-1 region, though early signs pointed to recovery. (For context, DynamoDB is a database service; SQS is a messaging queue that transfers data between applications.) 4
But layoffs aren’t an automatic advantage. If the wrong teams take the hit, it could drag down product development, shake morale, and disrupt execution in AWS and Prime Video — the areas Wall Street watches most closely.
Amazon is set to release its quarterly earnings on Feb. 5. This report is expected to reset expectations around AWS growth, retail margins, and the company’s spending plans for the year. 5
