Amazon Rehires Laid-Off Staff for AI, Cloud Roles Amid Talent Crunch

Amazon is recruiting former employees, including previously laid-off workers, for open AI and cloud-computing positions, according to recruiter emails obtained by Business Insider. One AWS AI recruiter solicited ex-employees with machine-learning experience under an initiative tied to VP Swami Sivasubramanian; an AWS Finance recruiter offered another former employee an expedited interview. Spokesperson Haley Silva said rehiring alumni is a long-established company practice, not an AI- or cloud-specific push launched recently. She said outreach reflects open headcount, not an effort to recover workers who left over return-to-office rules, which remain unchanged. Amazon has cut more than 30,000 roles in the past year, including about 16,000 in a broad round and positions in its artificial general intelligence unit. Returning employees accounted for 35% of U.S. new hires in March 2025, per ADP, and nearly two-thirds in tech.