Months after two major layoff announcements affecting about 30,000 roles, Amazon is contacting former employees, including some workers it previously laid off, about open jobs across the company in areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing.
Amazon says rehiring former workers is a longstanding company practice rather than a new programme created in response to the cuts.
One of the August recruiter emails obtained by Business Insider said 'a lot has changed since you were here' while pointing to new work across AI and machine learning.
The outreach follows Amazon's recent efforts to reduce management layers and cut parts of its corporate workforce while continuing to hire in areas it considers strategically important.
Amazon Recruiters Contact Former Workers for AI and Cloud Roles
One recruiter from Amazon's AI agent organisation contacted former employees with AI and machine-learning experience about new positions.
The recruiter referred to the outreach as 'Swami's Boomerang Reengagement Initiative,' referring to Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of Agentic AI at Amazon Web Services. The description came from the recruiter and was not presented by Amazon as a new companywide programme.
The recruiting effort also extends beyond specialised AI roles. Business Insider reported that an AWS Finance recruiter contacted a former employee who had left Amazon in good standing. The recruiter said the former worker could complete a short interview loop and then move towards an offer.
The recruiter also asked whether Amazon's return-to-office requirement had been a primary reason for leaving. The response, according to the email, would help Amazon tailor future outreach around the former employee's location and remote-work preferences.
Amazon spokesperson Haley Silva told Business Insider that 'boomerang' hiring is a normal and longstanding recruiting practice across the company. Eligible former employees can include workers Amazon previously laid off, she said.
Silva said Amazon is recruiting for current openings and is not specifically targeting people who left because of its return-to-office policy.
Two Major Layoff Rounds Affected About 30,000 Roles
Amazon announced an overall reduction in its corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles on 28 October 2025. The company said the changes were intended to reduce bureaucracy and management layers while shifting resources towards its biggest priorities.
A second major round followed on 28 January 2026, affecting approximately 16,000 roles across Amazon.
Those two announcements alone covered about 30,000 positions. Business Insider reported that Amazon's total job cuts across multiple rounds over the previous year exceeded 30,000.
Amazon has also made clear that hiring would continue in selected areas. In January, the company said it would keep investing and recruiting in 'strategic areas and functions' that it considered critical to its future.
Artificial intelligence is one of the areas in which Amazon has continued to invest heavily.
In a 2025 message to employees, CEO Andy Jassy said broader adoption of generative AI would change the types of work Amazon needs people to perform. He said the company would need fewer people doing some jobs and more people doing others.
Jassy also said Amazon expected efficiency gains from AI to reduce its total corporate workforce over the following few years.
That does not establish that AI alone caused Amazon's recent layoffs. The company has also cited efforts to reduce management layers, remove bureaucracy and redirect resources.
Boomerang Hiring Rose in 2025
ADP Research reported in May 2025 that so-called boomerang hiring had been rising as more employers brought former workers back.
Returning employees accounted for 35% of US new hires in March 2025, up from 31% a year earlier.
The trend was especially pronounced in the information sector. Nearly two-thirds of new hires in that sector in March 2025 were returning employees, according to ADP payroll data.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson wrote that employers may value former workers when particular skills are difficult to find. She also noted that boomerang employees can be easier to onboard and more prepared to hit the ground running.
Amazon's Five-Day Office Policy Remains
Amazon's return-to-office requirements also featured in the recent recruiter outreach.
The company's five-day in-office expectation took effect on 2 January 2025, with exceptions for circumstances such as illness, emergencies and employees with approved remote-work arrangements.
Jassy has argued that working together in person makes collaboration, learning, brainstorming and invention easier.
Business Insider reported in 2025 that Amazon's five-day mandate and office-location requirements had created challenges in recruiting some AI workers.
The recent outreach shows that the issue remains part of at least some recruiting conversations. One recruiter specifically asked whether the policy had contributed to a former employee's decision to leave and sought information about location and remote-work preferences.
Amazon said its current in-office expectations have not changed.
The outreach does not indicate a reversal of Amazon's earlier workforce reductions. Instead, it reflects the company's stated approach of reducing or restructuring some roles while continuing to recruit for openings in areas it considers strategically important, including AI and cloud computing.
