Amazon.com Inc. stumbled into an embarrassing blunder on January 27, 2026, when an internal email meant to console employees after layoffs was accidentally sent hours early to staff in its flagship cloud-computing division. The message, signed by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at Amazon Web Services, confirmed “organizational changes” and referenced “impacted colleagues” in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica—prematurely alerting workers to job losses planned for the next day. “Changes like this are hard on everyone. These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success,” Aubrey wrote in the email viewed by CNBC.

The email, titled “Send Project Dawn email,” included a calendar invite for a 5 a.m. Pacific Time meeting on January 28 that was swiftly canceled, according to Slack messages viewed by reporters. Employees quickly shared screenshots across internal channels with tens of thousands of members, amplifying anxiety just days before Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings report on February 5. The codenamed “Project Dawn” initiative marks the latest in a series of workforce reductions as the company grapples with post-pandemic overstaffing and intensifying competition in cloud services.

The Email That Broke the Silence

Details emerged rapidly across media outlets. Reuters reported the email wrongly implied notifications had already gone out to affected workers, though no such communications had occurred. AWS staff expressed confusion on Slack, with one noting the meeting’s abrupt cancellation. The mishap echoes broader reports of impending cuts across AWS, retail, Prime Video, and human resources units, with sources estimating thousands more roles at risk this week.

This incident follows Amazon’s October 2025 announcement of 14,000 corporate layoffs, part of a signaled push to trim management layers and bureaucracy. CEO Andy Jassy had warned in June 2025 that AI-driven efficiencies would shrink the corporate headcount over time, even as AWS growth accelerated to levels unseen since 2022.

Project Dawn’s Broader Scope

Insider accounts and regulatory filings paint a picture of sweeping reductions potentially totaling 30,000 corporate positions by May 2026—surpassing the 27,000 cuts in 2023. The HR Digest cited plans starting January 26 in states like Washington and California, targeting middle management to fund $100 billion in AI infrastructure and AWS data centers. Filings confirm 1,001 to 2,500 jobs lost in Washington alone in the initial wave.

AWS, Amazon’s profit engine, faces particular pressure amid rivalry from Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Reports from TheLayoff.com detail VP-level stack ranking orders, with the bottom 20% slated for February cuts. Reddit threads and Blind forums buzz with employee fears, one AWS veteran lamenting excessive managers promoted through internal politics.

Historical Pattern of Reductions

Amazon’s layoffs trace back to 2022-2023, when 27,000 roles vanished amid economic slowdowns. Further trims hit in 2024 and 2025, including hundreds in AWS AI, analytics, and marketing teams. Jassy’s tenure since 2021 has enforced five-day office returns and cost controls, like scrutinizing $50 monthly phone reimbursements. October’s cuts allowed 90-day payroll extensions for internal job hunts, ending January 26—coinciding with the new phase.

Analysts view the moves as financial, not purely AI-driven, despite Jassy’s efficiency rhetoric. Bank of America named Amazon a top pick for 2026, citing AI deals and Trainium chips for inference cost advantages, even as stock dipped amid layoff news.

Employee Backlash and Social Media Storm

The leak ignited fury online. Stocktwits highlighted Reddit backlash mocking “Project Dawn” as lives “malformed, not transformed.” X posts and Blind threads speculated AI glitches caused the send error, with one employee joking it previewed automation’s job threats. Global reach spans U.S., Canada, Costa Rica, and potentially India, where Bengaluru and Hyderabad teams brace for impacts.

Peers like UPS (30,000 cuts), Meta (1,000-1,500), Intel (24,000), and Microsoft (15,000) signal a tech-wide purge into 2026. Amazon’s 1.5 million workforce, heavy on corporate roles, faces a pivot to leaner operations prioritizing individual contributors over layers.

Strategic Shifts Amid Uncertainty

Beyond cuts, Amazon shuttered 70 Amazon Fresh and Go stores, refocusing on Whole Foods. AWS outages in late 2025, costing $1.1 billion, underscored staffing strains, yet reductions proceed. Earnings loom, with AWS growth key to offsetting e-commerce pressures. Jassy frames it as positioning for AI dominance, but workers see job peril in the code.