Three months after tech giant Amazon axed 14,000 jobs, more layoffs may be on the way.
Both Reuters and Bloomberg last week reported that another round of corporate cuts is coming any day, and could number in the thousands. Combined with last year’s cuts, this would reduce total corporate staff by about 10%.
While AI has been the named culprit for many mass layoffs in the last few months, Amazon’s fall reduction raised a different question: Was culture to blame?
In an earnings call this fall, CEO Andy Jassy said that round of layoffs was “not really financially driven and not even really AI-driven—not right now, at least. It’s culture,” he said. That claim made significant waves in HR circles on social media, with critics decrying the focus on culture as an admission that the company made 14,000 bad hires, or that their assimilation was poorly handled by HR.
Meanwhile, other company leaders called the layoffs part of a broader movement toward leaner structures with a focus on speed and efficiency.
At the time, leadership hinted at the potential for further restructuring, which now appears to be coming to fruition.
The purported next round of Amazon layoffs comes on the heels of news last week that Citigroup is planning its own reduction in March, after axing 1,000 jobs earlier this month under its new CEO.
In a statement at that time, the firm said the move was to ensure “staffing levels, locations and expertise” align with business needs, tech-driven efficiencies and an ongoing push for transformation.
This next round of layoffs, according to Reuters, will mostly hit those in managing director and senior roles.
The online chatter surrounding layoffs at both Amazon and Citigroup mirrors the recent situation at Microsoft, which had a decidedly different outcome. After anonymous social media postings pointed to the possibilities of major job cuts this winter, the firm’s chief communications officer made a public statement flatly refuting the claims.
The reaction highlights the tense reality facing many Americans about the looming potential of layoffs. In fact, a recent study by MyPerfectResume of 1,000 employed Americans found that fear of unemployment ranked among their top concerns heading into 2026. More than 40% of workers anticipate layoffs at their company this year, and about a third worry about their job security.
It’s a fear that is causing many to stay put as the landscape evolves. Researchers say employees are “choosing security over ambition, stability over exploration and calm over career moves”—which, for HR, highlights a growing risk for disengagement.
“Workers are staying,” they write, “not because they feel settled, but because they fear the risks associated with moving.”
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