Amazon’s Mass Layoffs Echo Historic Tech Restructurings

Amazon announced 16,000 job cuts—about 9% of its corporate workforce—as part of a broader wave of tech layoffs. The company says the reductions aim to flatten the organization and speed decision‑making, and it insists AI isn’t the sole driver, even as rivals like Microsoft and Meta also trimmed staff. The move sits within a long pattern of industry pivots, with past giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco retooling around software, services, and cloud as technology reshapes business models.