Amazon, Microsoft, Accenture and more: Here’s a list of companies cutting jobs to focus on AI

United Parcel Service (UPS) announced it cut 48,000 positions in the first nine months of 2025 as part of a sweeping restructuring effort to lower costs and realign operations. These cuts include 14,000 management jobs and about 34,000 operational roles such as drivers and warehouse workers. UPS confirmed these details in their Q3 financial disclosures, highlighting ongoing consolidation of facilities and a strategic shift to improve profits and market adaptability. UPS began 2025 with nearly 500,000 employees and is executing what CEO Carol Tomé calls the most significant strategic transformation in UPS history.​

Amazon is cutting up to 30,000 corporate positions, constituting nearly 10 per cent of its 350,000 corporate employee base, although this is less than 2 per cent of its global workforce. Notifications began in late October 2025, with jobs axed across AWS, operations, human resources, and other business units. CEO Andy Jassy cited the transition to AI-driven processes, overexpansion during the previous years, and the need to streamline management as main drivers for these cuts. The current round follows earlier reductions, making this Amazon’s largest layoff event on record.​

Intel confirmed it will reduce its global workforce by 24,000 during 2025, bringing its core headcount down from nearly 100,000 to about 75,000 by year-end. The restructuring is part of a major efficiency push by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan amid tough competition in the semiconductor sector. Intel is implementing cuts through layoffs and natural attrition, with significant reductions in the US, Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica.

Nestlé, the world’s largest packaged food company, announced in October 2025 that it will cut 16,000 jobs globally over the next two years. This includes 12,000 white-collar positions and 4,000 roles in manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain functions. The cuts aim to streamline operations, lower costs, and shift investment to high-return products under new CEO Philipp Navratil. The layoffs are expected to save at least 1 billion Swiss francs annually.​

Accenture has laid off more than 11,000 employees globally through the middle of October 2025 as part of a restructuring to prioritise AI and align with changing client demand. CEO Julie Sweet stated many roles could not be reskilled for new AI-driven needs. The company’s total headcount fell from roughly 791,000 to 779,000, and further cuts are planned as AI expansion continues.​

Ford is currently staging a layoff cycle targeting between 8,000 and 13,000 jobs in 2025, based on financial and insiders reports. Jobs cuts are focused on its Model e EV division, commercial operations, US legacy functions, and European plants. The reduction is staged in tranches and aligns with Ford’s broader reorganisation and cost-cutting plans, but there is no official public statement confirming a final number yet.​

Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant, is restructuring its global operations and plans to cut 9,000 jobs, or over 11 per cent of its workforce, as announced in autumn 2025. The layoffs span production, administrative, and clinical roles, mainly in Denmark but also covering the US and other regions. The company cited increasing competition in the obesity drug market and a need to contain costs as primary reasons.​

Microsoft confirmed in May 2025 it would lay off about 7,000 employees, or roughly 3 per cent of its global workforce, mostly in the US. The company cited the need to rein in costs while funnelling investment into AI and cloud computing. The move adds to an earlier round of 10,000 cuts in 2023.​

PwC globally has cut about 5,600 jobs during its 2025 financial year, including nearly 1,500 in the United States mainly in audit and tax roles. The company adapted to automation and shifting business priorities, restructuring teams and reallocating resources towards advisory and sustainability. Additional rounds of smaller cuts were reported in various markets.​

Salesforce announced it would lay off around 4,000 employees in 2025 as part of an ongoing restructuring process to improve margins and streamline its operations across the CRM and enterprise software sector. This adds to earlier rounds since 2023 and reflects the broader tech industry’s shift to AI and operational efficiency.​

Paramount Global has laid off approximately 2,000 workers in 2025 following a year of restructuring sparked by streaming industry losses, weak advertising markets, and increased competition. Cuts focused on streaming, production, and administrative staff.​

Target to layoffs 1,800 in October 2025, which is about 8 per cent of its corporate workforce. Reductions affected areas including corporate management and certain store-level support roles as the retailer adjusts to evolving retail trends and consumer demand shifts.​

Kroger is cutting it’s workforce of about 1,000 jobs as the grocery and retail chain adjusts to post-pandemic consumer patterns and seeks to drive profitability by realigning its business units. Reports show layoffs increase in procurement and logistics, but confirmation of the exact number for October 2025 is limited.​

Applied Materials, a semiconductor equipment maker, announced layoffs of 1,444 workers in autumn 2025, accounting for about 4 per cent of its workforce, as part of a broader industry cost-reduction trend triggered by softening demand and chip sector realignment.​

Meta (formerly know as Facebook) reported the layoff of 600 employees, primarily in its AI research and development divisions, as part of a continued effort to streamline project teams and focus on generative AI investments and Reality Labs. The company had already experienced much larger waves of layoffs the previous year.​