Amazon contacts former employees, including those laid off, for AI and cloud jobs

The latest market report highlights that Amazon recruiters are contacting former employees, including some who were laid off, around openings in artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing, Business Insider noted, citing emails it obtained and a firm spokesperson. The report did not say how many former employees had been contacted or hired.

In August, a recruiter for Amazon’s AI agent organisation approached former AI and machine learning employees around new roles, according to the report. The organisation is led by Amazon Web Services Vice-President Swami Sivasubramanian. The recruiter called the outreach “Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative”.

A separate AWS Finance recruiter offered a former employee a shorter interview process that could lead to an offer, Business Insider noted. That recruiter additionally asked whether Amazon’s return-to-office policy had been a reason for leaving. The report did not identify that former employee as someone who had been laid off.

Amazon spokesperson Haley Silva told Business Insider that rehiring former employees is a longstanding practice across the firm, rather than a new programme limited to AI or cloud roles. People who were laid off can be considered for openings, she stated. Silva further noted that Amazon was not specifically seeking employees who left over its office policy, which stays unchanged.

The outreach follows two large rounds of job cuts. Amazon announced the elimination of around 14,000 corporate roles in October 2025 and a further 16,000 roles in January 2026. In both announcements, the firm stated it would continue hiring in selected areas while reducing roles elsewhere.

Amazon had additionally stated it anticipated AI to change the mix of jobs it needed. In a June 2025 message to employees, chief executive Andy Jassy stated the firm would need fewer people in some roles and more in others as it expanded its use of AI. He anticipated its corporate workforce to shrink over the following few years, though he stated the eventual size of that change was difficult to predict.