Washington is currently facing a flurry of layoffs, hitting some cities harder than others. When Amazon announced on January 28 that it would be reducing 16,000 positionsacross the organization, the bigger question was how many would be local?
Now, in the first WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice since the official announcement, Amazon has notified that it is laying off 2,198 workers in Washington state. The majority of which, approximately 1,400, are in Seattle, the home of this e-commerce giant’s headquarters.
Bellevue is next in terms of the number of affected employees, with over 600, according to the notice. Additionally, 116 cuts affected remote employees residing in Washington state.
The job title list suggests a clear pattern: a majority of these positions are corporate tech-related, particularly engineering and product management roles, with some manager and senior manager roles mixed in. This aligns with Amazon’s description of these roles being an organizational reset rather than a shutdown of a particular site.
According to the filing, the anticipated separations will be effective on the following dates:
- April 28, 2026
- May 26, 2026
- May 28, 2026
- June 29, 2026
The affected employees have been given 90 days’ notice prior to their scheduled layoff, and the cuts will be permanent. However, if an employee is transferred internally before these dates, their separation will be void.
Washington’s unemployment woes
The filing comes as Washington’s unemployment picture turns more uneven. Washington is already dealing with increased unemployment rates. The December report shows an unemployment rate of 4.7%, up from 4.6% in November. The October rate was not calculated due to unavailable data resulting from the extended government shutdown.
In the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma region, the unemployment rate rose sharply to 4.8% (preliminary) in December 2025, compared to 4.1% in December 2024. Recent losses have been concentrated in professional and business services and manufacturing, while sectors such as information and health services posted gains, underscoring an uneven jobs picture in the state.
Amazon is not the only big tech company laying off workers, raising concerns about the state of Washington’s economy. Meta Platforms, parent of Facebook and Instagram, recently laid off 331 employees, including 89 in Bellevue, and 97 affected remote employees residing in the state. The impacted employees will be separated from the company on March 20, 2026.
More recently, T-Mobile also announced 493 cuts in various parts of Washington, the majority of which were in Bellevue.
Amazon’s restructuring efforts equal job cuts
The 16,000 job cuts are the second in a series of layoffs by the company, aimed to “strengthen the organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” as noted by Beth Galetti, Senior VP of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, in a letter shared with employees.
When Amazon laid off around 14,000 employees in October 2025, CEO Andy Jassy noted in the company’s earnings call that the decision was “not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now, at least.” Contrary to the reports and general belief that AI is taking over jobs.
More Layoffs:
- Goldman Sachs makes unemployment prediction
- 179-year-old tobacco giant sends blunt message to workers
- 118-year-old shipping giant just delivered workers a harsh message
Jassy said that often with a business structure like Amazon’s, “you end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers.” Galetti’s recent note on the 16,000 layoffs echoed a similar rationale, suggesting an organizational reset.
The news comes two days before the retailer is set to announce its Q4 earnings on Feb 5 at 5 pm ET, that is, after market close. In the wake of the news, the company’s stock was down more than 1.8% on Tuesday, adding to its 2.8% decline this past week.
This earnings report is also crucial as investors and analysts will be looking for an increase in capital expenditures and the company’s outlook towards AI expansion.
BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz is looking at AWS’s growth acceleration, keeping an Outperform rating and $304 price target ahead of the earnings. But Pitz also flagged capacity constraints that could cap near-term upside for AWS and cautioned of increasing competition. On the real side, Pitz notes that while sales trends are healthy, consumer confidence is weakening. However, same-day delivery buildings could be a potential cash flow option, as they require less capital than traditional fulfillment centers. Source: TheFly.
UBS is also bullish, raising its price target to $311 from $310, a slight increase, while keeping a Buy rating. But it cites the valuation assumptions on higher AWS revenue and capex expectations. The firm also raised aggregate CapEx estimates for Q425-Q427 to $344B, driven by AWS’s plans to double capacity by 2027.
Related: Amazon delivers more bad news for workers before earnings
