Amazon recently laid off approximately 16,000 employees in January and had cut about 14,000 roles towards the end of 2025, resulting in a total of 30,000 job cuts. Speculations indicate that more job cuts might follow as the company increases its focus on automation and artificial intelligence (AI). However, AWS chief Matt Garman has highlighted a different perspective. During an interview, Garman emphasized that AI is not replacing software developers and revealed Amazon’s plan to hire 11,000 interns and developers in 2026.
Speaking at the AWS What’s Next event, Garman mentioned that Amazon’s hiring spree would continue, with a strong demand for software engineers. He confirmed that the company aims to bring on board around 11,000 software development interns and full-time staff this year.
Despite the recent layoffs affecting AWS, Garman refuted claims that AI was negatively impacting job opportunities. He argued that AI was not eliminating jobs but rather reshaping them. According to Garman, the rapid change is not in the quantity of jobs but in their nature. AI agents are increasingly handling repetitive tasks such as debugging and routine coding, allowing developers to focus on more strategic tasks like system design and addressing complex customer issues.
Garman emphasized that the transformation brought by AI is evident within Amazon, where teams are resolving bugs swiftly and accelerating system rebuilds using AI tools. He highlighted a project that was completed in two quarters instead of the anticipated two years, showcasing how AI is expediting development processes rather than reducing team sizes.