Amazon layoffs announced earlier in the year will take place today and impact workers in four states, according to WARN notices reviewed by Newsweek. The cuts—spanning corporate offices and physical retail locations—are part of the company’s continued restructuring as it pares back headcount following years of rapid pandemic-era hiring.
Amazon’s layoffs come amid broader shake-ups in the labor market, fueled by an economic downturn and AI-driven cost-cutting as companies look to use technology to reduce expenses. While large employers in tech and retail are pulling back on costs, the national unemployment level remains relatively low. But it’s possible the unemployment rate hasn’t yet reflected the layoffs, since they’re being done on a rolling basis, and a rising unemployment rate could signal a shift in power in Washington, D.C., as Republicans risk losing control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Filings reviewed by Newsweek show that thousands of Amazon employees across Washington, California, Maryland, and New York are slated to lose their jobs on Tuesday, April 28. Some job losses are at the corporate office in New York City, while others are tied to the shuttering of Amazon Fresh grocery stores. Amazon is also laying off 691 workers on Monday in Virginia.
The layoffs were announced earlier in the year to comply with the WARN Act. The law requires companies with over 100 employees to provide 60 days notice of plant closings or layoffs that impact 50 or more workers at a single location.
Amazon Layoffs Today
In Washington state, Amazon is laying off about 2,600 workers in line with a WARN notice filed earlier in the year, with the largest share of cuts concentrated in the Seattle-area corporate workforce. More than half of the employees being laid off are in product and engineering roles, including software development. They’re spread across multiple Amazon offices in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond, according to the notices. Several hundred additional workers will be laid off in facility-related reductions in western Washington.
In California, Amazon has disclosed 4,865 layoffs across 10 locations, according to WARN filing data reviewed by Newsweek. Over 200 people will lose their jobs at a single location, an Amazon Fresh in Woodland Hills. The bulk of the layoffs is due to Amazon Fresh locations closing, although some California employees also worked at corporate offices.
Amazon is one of the top three grocers in the United States, according to the company, which said in a January statement that it’s investing more in the grocery chain Whole Foods, which it acquired in 2017. Amazon said it will open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores in the “next few years” as customers gravitate toward buying groceries there instead of at Amazon Fresh stores. Some Amazon Fresh stores closing will be converted into Whole Foods stores.
“We’re grateful to our team members for their many contributions over the years and are working whenever possible to help them find roles elsewhere in Amazon, including across our vast operations network, as we make this transition,” Amazon said in a statement.
In Maryland, about 742 workers are expected to lose their jobs as Amazon shuts down five Amazon Fresh grocery stores in Montgomery County and surrounding areas. The closures are part of a nationwide decision to wind down Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go physical retail locations while shifting grocery investment to Whole Foods and online delivery.
In New York, Amazon is closing a facility on Long Island that will result in 44 layoffs, while 71 additional jobs will be cut at a separate location in Nassau County, according to state labor filings reviewed by Newsweek. Amazon has disclosed 135 layoffs tied to a corporate office housed in a WeWork space in New York City, separate from earlier Manhattan corporate cuts that occurred in late 2025 and early 2026.
Amazon Layoffs in May
Amazon’s layoffs in New York will continue into May. A Buffalo facility is scheduled to close on May 30, resulting in 542 job losses, according to a WARN notice. Because New York’s WARN laws require 90 days’ notice, many of these layoffs were disclosed months in advance but are only now taking effect.
A Broader Wave of Amazon Layoffs in 2026
The latest reductions are part of a broader wave of Amazon layoffs this year, as the company continues to flatten management layers and rein in costs. Earlier this year, Amazon confirmed plans to eliminate approximately 16,000 corporate roles globally, following another 14,000 corporate cuts in late 2025, making this one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s history. In a statement announcing the 2025 cuts, Amazon said they offered many employees 90 days to find a new job internally.
Last year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned that technology would reduce the number of staff needed in certain areas while creating job opportunities in others.
“We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” Jassy said last year. “In the next few years, we expect that [AI] will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
What Is the US Unemployment Rate?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent in March 2026, largely unchanged from the month before.
The BLS reported that the U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in March, with gains concentrated in healthcare, construction and transportation, while federal government employment continued to decline. At the same time, the number of long-term unemployed Americans—those out of work for 27 weeks or more—has risen compared with a year earlier.
Tech and retail jobs have faced outsized disruption over the past few years as companies recalibrate after aggressive pandemic-era hiring and adjust to new technology.
Donald Trump’s Polling on the Economy
While President Donald Trump won both his elections on the economy, Americans have soured on his ability to improve their economic situation. An April poll from the Associated Press‑NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 30 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 38 percent in March, marking the lowest economic approval rating of his second term. The survey also showed deep unease over cost‑of‑living pressures, with only about one‑quarter of respondents saying they approve of Trump’s approach to prices and household expenses.
Other surveys point in the same direction. A CNBC All‑America Economic Survey released in late April found Trump’s net approval on the economy fell to negative 21 points, the weakest reading of his presidency, amid voter frustration over rising gasoline prices and inflation linked to the war with Iran. While Trump continues to enjoy strong backing among core MAGA voters, the poll showed notable erosion among independents and non‑MAGA Republicans, groups that had previously been more receptive to his economic message. Overall approval in the CNBC poll stood at 40 percent, with economic attitudes driving much of the decline.
Republicans hold a slim majority in the House and Senate, and they risk losing control of Congress in the November midterm elections. If layoffs continue this year and Americans who lost their jobs aren’t able to find new ones, the unemployment rate could rise, giving Democrats the boost they need to take back control of Congress.
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