Amazon Confirms 16,000 New Job Cuts: ‘Project Dawn’ Layoffs Hit India and AWS Teams

It’s Thursday morning, January 29, 2026, and if you’re a corporate employee at Amazon, your inbox just became the most stressful place on earth. After a messy 24 hours involving a leaked internal email titled “Project Dawn,” Amazon officially confirmed on Wednesday that it is cutting 16,000 more jobs worldwide.

Add businessleague.in as a Preferred Source

The thing is, this isn’t a one-off. Combined with the 14,000 roles cut in October, Amazon has wiped out 30,000 corporate jobs in just three months. Or nothing.

Also Read |Tamil Nadu Voter List Purge: 97 Lakh Names Deleted in SIR Phase 1

The “Project Dawn” Fallout: Field Notes

It’s an ongoing situation where the “day of reckoning” actually arrived a day early for some. Here’s the ground reality:

• The Email Glitch: On Tuesday, a premature email from Colleen Aubrey (SVP of Applied AI at AWS) accidentally went out to staff. It basically said, “You’ve been notified,” before anyone actually had been. Let’s be real—nothing kills morale faster than a “You’re fired” email sent to the wrong 10,000 people by mistake.

• The India Impact: Early reports suggest between 500 and 700 roles in India are on the chopping block. The thing is, the cuts are hitting teams in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai—mostly those supporting global AWS backend systems and retail analytics. Those too.

Also Read |Tamil Nadu Voter List Purge: 97 Lakh Names Deleted in SIR Phase 1

• The “Culture” Excuse: CEO Andy Jassy isn’t blaming the economy or even AI. He’s calling it a “culture” reset. The goal? To kill bureaucracy and “flatten” the org chart. The thing is, if you’re a middle manager with five layers of bosses above you, your seat is officially hot.

• The Severance Deal: Affected staff are getting a 90-day non-working transition period (full pay but don’t come to the office) plus a lump-sum severance. In the US, they also get healthcare extensions. And here’s the kicker—they’re giving 12 months of free AWS Skill Builder access. It’s like saying, “We’re letting you go, but here’s a login to learn how to do the jobs we’re keeping.” Or nothing.

Amazon Layoffs 2026: At a Glance

Also Read |Tamil Nadu Voter List Purge: 97 Lakh Names Deleted in SIR Phase 1

And Here’s the Kicker…

Amazon reports its full-year 2025 results on February 5. The thing is, they already admitted to spending 1.8 billion on severance in the last quarter alone. Wall Street is expecting a profit jump, but the human cost of that “leaner structure” is the biggest downsizing in the company’s 30-year history. Those too.

One side comment—while 30,000 sounds massive, it’s still less than 10% of their corporate staff and a tiny fraction of their 1.5 million total employees. It’s an ongoing situation where the “white-collar” dream at Big Tech is looking a lot more like a gig-economy nightmare. Or nothing.

Also Read |Tamil Nadu Voter List Purge: 97 Lakh Names Deleted in SIR Phase 1

End…

Add businessleague.in as a Preferred Source