Did AI really cause job losses at Amazon? It's hard to tell, economist says
Economists find it difficult to confirm if Amazon's 16,000 layoffs were truly caused by AI efficiency gains.Summary
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy attributed recent layoffs of 16,000 people to "efficiency gains" from artificial intelligence (AI). However, economists like Cornell University's Karan Girotra state it is currently impossible to definitively link job losses to AI adoption. A Goldman Sachs report published before the Amazon cuts noted that very few employees had been affected by AI-attributed layoffs since December 2025, suggesting AI's overall labor market impact remains limited. Girotra suggests that organizational adjustments needed to realize workforce reductions from AI take time, and that if jobs are being lost, they are likely middle management roles targeted for cost-cutting. Furthermore, he posits that Amazon's current cuts, which follow previous reductions, may largely represent a scaling back from excessive hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the AI attribution serving as a "value story."
(Source：euronews)