WSJ What’s News – “Why Amazon Plans to Cut 30,000 Jobs”

Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Caitlin McCabe
Guests: Sean McLean, Conrad Puzier, John Emont

Episode Overview

This episode of WSJ What’s News centers on Amazon’s decision to lay off up to 30,000 corporate employees in a bid to cut costs and redirect resources toward artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. The hosts and guests analyze Amazon's broad restructuring, discuss the current climate of job cuts and economic uncertainty in corporate America, and address other macroeconomic stories, including persistent inflation, the rare earths investment boom fueled by Chinese export controls, and a political controversy over the use of the auto pen in the Biden White House.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Amazon’s Layoffs: Scope and Reasoning

• Announcement Details

  • Amazon is set to cut about 10% of its corporate workforce—up to 30,000 jobs, with reductions impacting human resources, cloud computing, advertising, and more.
  • "The cuts could begin as soon as today, but won't happen all this week. Human resources, cloud computing, advertising and a number of other business units are expected to be affected." (Caitlin McCabe, 00:46)

• Underlying Drivers

  • Pandemic Hiring Boom: Amazon expanded rapidly during Covid, resulting in a potentially bloated workforce.
  • Cost-Cutting & AI Investment: The company is now seeking to trim costs and free up capital to invest in AI, chips, and cloud computing to remain competitive with Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
  • "It'll be one of the largest layoffs in the company's history and it underlines the pressure that large corporations, large tech companies, any big employer is having right now in the US." (Sean McLean, 01:50)
  • "Amazon wants to cut spending from what they saw as a period of overexuberant growth, but at the same time find cash to spend on AI." (Sean McLean, 01:50)

• Unprecedented Move for Amazon

  • Historically, Amazon avoided large, headline-grabbing layoffs; this marks a significant shift in company culture and operations.
  • "Amazon until the last couple years hadn't been known for these huge headline grabbing layoffs. And certainly this latest announcement seems to hit almost every corner of the business, at least on the white collar side." (Sean McLean, 03:36)

2. The Bigger Picture: Corporate America’s AI Pivot & Economic Uncertainty

• Macroeconomic Context

  • Sluggish job growth, economic uncertainty, inflation, and ongoing trade tensions are pressuring corporations to do more with less.
  • "The broader context really is this period of uncertainty in corporate America where job growth is slowing, the economy is less certain, prices are going up, consumer sentiment is down..." (Sean McLean, 02:51)

• AI as Productivity Solution

  • Leaders like Amazon’s Andy Jassy are increasingly relying on AI to boost productivity and minimize headcount growth (or direct reductions), especially among white- and blue-collar workers.
  • "So you're seeing CEOs wanting workers to be more productive with AI tools... finding ways to have robots and AI tools enable headcount to either reduce or slow down in growth without hurting business growth." (Sean McLean, 03:14)

3. Inflation: Persistent and Disproportionate

• Latest Inflation Data

  • September inflation hit 3%, just above the Fed's 2% target but lower than forecasts.
  • "There was a collective sigh of relief at the end of last week when inflation numbers finally arrived, reaching 3% in September." (Caitlin McCabe, 04:01)

• Impact on Americans

  • Lower and middle-income Americans feel inflation more acutely due to greater price hikes for cheaper goods and slower wage growth.
  • "If you're a lower income American, your wages are not rising the way they did last couple years ago. But inflation hasn't gone away. So you're getting squeezed from two sides. You're not earning as much anymore, and the money that you do earn doesn't go as far." (Conrad Puzier, 05:36)

• Lingering Disillusionment

  • Frustration lingers after policymakers said earlier inflation spikes would be “temporary.”
  • "Americans are upset. Americans are really mad about inflation... we were told by economists and policymakers... that this is a temporary thing and everything's going to go back to normal. And that's sort of true... but at the same time, inflation hasn't gone away and it's still way too high." (Conrad Puzier, 06:07)

4. Rare Earths: Investment Surge Amid Trade Tensions

• China’s Export Restrictions

  • China imposed tighter controls on rare earth exports, sparking a rush of investment into Western critical minerals industries.
  • "China just controls every part of the rare earth industry... and they keep prices generally very, very low." (John Emont, 08:00)

• Western Response

  • Massive influx of private and governmental funds into Western mining and processing projects in the US and Australia.
  • "A big export bank that's affiliated with the United States government... put $2.2 billion into seven critical mineral projects in Australia... JP Morgan has pledged to back some of these projects... stock prices of all these companies have gone way, way up." (John Emont, 08:33)

• Long-Term Impact

  • Even with diplomatic negotiations, Western companies are unlikely to abandon the push to diversify away from Chinese supply, given ongoing risks.
  • "Tweaks around the edges are not going to satisfy Western companies that really rely on Chinese rare earth magnets. They're going to want almost certainly another source..." (John Emont, 10:59)

5. Political Spotlight: Biden, the Auto Pen, and Clemency

• GOP-Led Probe

  • House Oversight Committee alleges aides used an auto pen to issue executive actions—potentially without Biden’s sign-off.
  • "A Republican-led panel has recommended that the Justice Department investigate all of former President Joe Biden's executive actions, particularly his clemency decisions..." (Caitlin McCabe, 11:33)

• Administration Response

  • Biden’s spokesperson calls the inquiry “baseless” and urges Congress to move on.
  • "There was no conspiracy, no cover up and no wrongdoing. Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown..." (Caitlin McCabe, quoting Biden spokesperson, 11:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Amazon's Dilemma:
  • "Amazon wants to cut spending from what they saw as a period of overexuberant growth, but at the same time find cash to spend on AI."
    — Sean McLean (01:50)
• On the Human Impact of Inflation:
  • "You're not earning as much anymore, and the money that you do earn doesn't go as far."
    — Conrad Puzier (05:48)
• On Rare Earths Investment Boom:
  • "It's really night and day. The industry has really struggled to raise cash for decades... And it's really changed these past few months in a lot of different ways."
    — John Emont (08:00)
• On Western Companies’ Reluctance:
  • "It's hard to imagine anything that really disrupts the momentum of new investment into the Western rare earth sector."
    — John Emont (10:59)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Amazon Layoffs Announcement & Analysis: 00:46 – 04:01
• Inflation and Wage Stagnation: 04:01 – 06:38
• Rare Earths Investment Boom: 08:00 – 11:25
• Biden Auto Pen Controversy: 11:33 – 12:20

The episode delivers a thorough breakdown of Amazon’s shift in strategy, the broader corporate turn toward AI and efficiency, and the impacts of macroeconomic and geopolitical shifts—from inflation to strategic minerals and political dramas. The reporting balances technical business insights with the lived experience of everyday workers and companies.