Thousands of Amazon employees began their Tuesday morning with unsettling text messages from the company, informing them their roles had been eliminated before they even reached the office.  The move coincided with Amazon’s announcement of roughly 14,000 corporate job cuts across the U.S., affecting many retail manager positions.

One text instructed recipients to check their personal or work email for further details, while another directed them to a help desk if they hadn’t yet received a notification. According to internal messages, impacted staff will retain full pay and benefits for 90 days, along with a severance package. Amazon cited rapid advancement in artificial-intelligence technologies as driving the restructuring, despite the company performing strongly otherwise.

 The method of terminating employees via pre-arrival texts has grown in corporate layoffs - designed to avoid disgruntled workers arriving with deactivated badges. For remaining employees, the message is clear: Amazon is speeding up its transition into a leaner, AI-driven organisation.