AWS announces plans to hire 11,000 tech staff following recent 30,000 layoffs

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman announced this week that the cloud giant plans to hire 11,000 software development engineers and interns throughout 2026. Interestingly, the hiring spree comes just weeks after Amazon completed a massive restructuring that saw approximately 30,000 corporate roles eliminated across late 2025 and early 2026.

The job cuts, which hit AWS, retail, and Prime Video units particularly hard, were framed by Amazon leadership as a way to reduce management layers and bureaucracy.

The "new normal": Skills over scale

Speaking at the AWS What's Next event, Garman pushed back against the narrative that AI is making software engineering obsolete. Instead, he argued that while the nature of the job is changing, the demand for high-level technical talent is "really accelerating."

"We are hiring just as many software developers as we ever have inside of Amazon," Garman stated. However, he noted that the role is evolving from routine coding to a focus on system architecture and AI integration.

"Being an expert at being able to author a Java code snippet is going to be less valuable in the future than it was maybe a couple of years ago."

Strategic reinvestment in AI infrastructure

The dual strategy of layoffs and hiring reflects a broader trend in Big Tech known as "skill-based volatility." Key details of the plan include:

• Targeted roles: Focus on Applied Scientists, AI/ML Engineers, and Cloud Support Associates.

• Campus focus: A heavy emphasis on 2025-2026 graduates who are "AI-native."

• Automation shift: Amazon has simultaneously launched Connect Talent, an AI-powered recruitment platform that uses autonomous agents to screen and interview candidates around the clock.

Looking forward

While thousands of roles tied to traditional corporate structures are being phased out, specialized technical positions are seeing a surge in value. For those joining the 11,000 new hires, the message from AWS is clear: the ability to leverage AI tools to compress development cycles is now a non-negotiable requirement.