Amazon has cut jobs inside its robotics division, the unit that designs and builds the automation systems running its warehouse network. At least 100 white-collar roles were affected, Reuters reported. In a message to staff seen by Business Insider, Amazon Robotics VP Scott Dresser called the move “difficult but necessary,” while maintaining that robotics remains a “strategic priority” for the company.An Amazon spokesperson confirmed a “relatively small number” of roles were eliminated, adding that affected employees would receive severance pay, health insurance, and job placement support.
Amazon’s robotics cuts come as the company restructures a division it has built over more than a decade
The reductions are the latest in a sweeping cost-cutting campaign Amazon has run since a pandemic-era hiring spree dramatically bloated its corporate headcount. The company has now shed more than 57,000 corporate roles since late 2022—starting with roughly 14,000 cuts in October, followed by 16,000 more in January—as CEO Andy Jassy pushes to flatten management layers and strip out bureaucracy. After January’s round, HR chief Beth Galetti told employees the company wasn’t trying to establish a pattern of sweeping reductions every few months, though she didn’t rule out further cuts.The robotics division itself has been central to Amazon’s logistics operation since the company acquired warehouse automation firm Kiva Systems in 2012. By last July, Amazon had surpassed one million robots across its fulfillment network.
Amazon shelved Blue Jay after less than six months and is now pivoting to a modular warehouse system called Orbital
Tuesday’s cuts also follow a sharp strategic turn inside the division. Blue Jay—a ceiling-mounted, multi-armed robot Amazon unveiled in October for same-day delivery warehouses, developed in just over a year—was quietly shelved in January after running into high costs, manufacturing complexity, and real-world implementation problems, Business Insider first reported. Staff were moved to other robotics projects.Parts of Blue Jay’s technology will carry over into future systems, including a floor-mounted setup called Flex Cell. More broadly, Amazon is shifting away from its older monolithic warehouse architecture toward a new modular platform called Orbital—designed for smaller same-day warehouses and flexible enough to potentially slot into Whole Foods stores as a micro-fulfillment solution. The first Orbital warehouse isn’t expected until 2027.
