Part 6/15:
While Amazon’s statement emphasizes AI as a motivation, this move exposes a deeper truth: Amazon has "forgotten how to grow." Following rapid expansion during the 2010s and amid pandemic-fueled demand, the company scaled dramatically—ballooning from 34,000 employees in 2010 to 800,000 by 2019 and reaching 1.66 million by 2021. However, starting in 2022, this growth slowed, and the company began shedding jobs—a natural correction in a post-pandemic economy that had previously overhired in anticipation of continued expansion.