AWS CEO says AI isn't replacing workers as Amazon plans to hire 11,000 software developers

Wanna Work for Amazon? AWS CEO Promises He's Still Hiring Devs

Amazon has been laying off staff en masse this year, axing over 16,000 employees in 2026 so far. Meanwhile, fears about AI taking white-collar jobs are everywhere, with programming one of the many fields that experts are saying are primed for disruption. However, the CEO of cloud computing giant Amazon is promising the company will continue to invest in new software engineers. At Amazon's What's Next with AWS event earlier this week, AWS CEO Matt Garman said, "We are hiring just as many software developers as we ever have inside of Amazon." In fact, despite the fears, he said he sees demand for developers "really accelerating." At the event, first reported by Business Insider, he said Amazon plans to hire 11,000 software engineering interns in 2026, in line with previous years. But he also outlined plenty of caveats, saying the jobs "will be a little bit different." "Being an expert at being able to author a Java code snippet is going to be less valuable in the future than it was maybe a couple of years ago," he explained. The CEO said broader skills like solving customer problems and building applications will be important, and technical skills remain key. As Insider notes, this isn't the first time that Garman has hit back against some of the more pessimistic predictions about AI job takeovers. Back on Aug. 19, 2025, the cloud boss said replacing junior employees with AI was "one of the dumbest things" he'd ever heard. Plenty of prominent figures in the world of AI are already making bold claims about AI replacing human developers. In a post on X, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently claimed "we might be 6-12 months away from models doing all of what software engineers do end-to-end." Other sources say differently, at least for now. A 2025 report from the World Economic Forum projected that software and application developers would be among the fastest-growing types of roles in percentage terms in the coming years. However, many tech companies have attributed their recent tide of layoffs at least partially to changes caused by AI. In December 2025, HP's CEO said the company will cut 4,000 to 6,000 jobs by 2028 as it pivots toward AI adoption, while in April, Snapchat maker Snap said it would lay off 16% of its staff, highlighting how AI can reduce repetitive task workloads.

Massive layoffs, shocking pivot: Amazon cuts 30,000 jobs, yet AWS CEO insists AI isn't replacing workers -- so what's the real story?

Despite recent tens of thousands of job cuts, Amazon is actively hiring, with plans to bring in 11,000 software developers and interns in 2026. AWS CEO Matt Garman stated that AI is reshaping jobs by automating repetitive tasks, allowing developers to focus on more complex responsibilities and accelerating development timelines. Amazon cut around 30,000 jobs over recent months, yet plans to hire more. The numbers don't seem to line up at first glance. After tens of thousands of job cuts, a new hiring push has emerged from the same company. It's a shift that has left many wondering what's really happening behind the scenes. Fresh comments from leadership are adding another layer to the story, as per a report. ALSO READ: Quote of the Day by Martin Luther King Jr.: 'Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only...' -- Inspiring quotes by American civil rights activist and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history In recent months, Amazon has carried out significant layoffs, cutting about 16,000 roles in January and another 14,000 toward the end of 2025. Altogether, that brings the total to roughly 30,000 jobs lost, with reports suggesting more cuts could still be on the way as the company leans further into automation and AI. At the same time, a very different message is coming from AWS CEO Matt Garman. Speaking at the AWS What's Next event, he said Amazon is actively hiring and expects to bring in around 11,000 software development interns and full-time employees in 2026, as per a report. ALSO READ: Greenlandic proverb of the Day: 'When you've come so far that you can't take another step...' -- The Greenlandic Proverb that redefines human endurance Garman pushed back strongly against the idea that artificial intelligence is eliminating roles. Instead, he described the narrative as exaggerated and misplaced. "I can tell you we are hiring just as many software developers as we ever had inside of Amazon," Garman said. "And in fact, I see the demand for that really accelerating." He reinforced the point by adding that the company's hiring plans show that "this is not jobs going away." ALSO READ: Quote of the Day by Confucius: 'The man who asks a question is a fool for...' -- Inspiring quotes by the ancient Chinese philosopher renowned for aphorisms According to Garman, the real shift isn't in job numbers but in what those jobs look like. AI agents -- systems capable of operating autonomously -- are expanding rapidly across industries and evolving faster than expected. These tools are increasingly taking over repetitive tasks such as debugging, writing routine code, and managing operational workflows. But rather than reducing the need for engineers, Garman said they are helping developers focus on more complex responsibilities. "The jobs will be a little bit different," he explained, pointing out that tasks like writing small code snippets may become less central, while system design and understanding broader architecture are becoming more valuable. ALSO READ: Roman proverb of the Day: 'When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be...' -- The powerful morning reflection that reminds you life itself is a gift The impact of AI is already visible within Amazon's own teams. Garman noted that tasks that once took weeks can now be completed in minutes, and large-scale systems are being rebuilt far more quickly with AI-assisted tools. He shared an example from his own office, where a project initially expected to take two years was completed in just two quarters. The shift, he suggested, highlights how AI is accelerating development timelines rather than shrinking teams. Even with layoffs affecting multiple areas, including managerial roles within AWS, the broader message from leadership remains consistent: hiring continues, demand for skilled developers is growing, and AI is transforming how work gets done -- not eliminating it. Is Amazon still hiring after layoffs? Yes, the company plans to bring in around 11,000 developers and interns. Is AI replacing software developer jobs at Amazon? No, leadership says AI is changing roles, not eliminating them.

AWS CEO Says AI Not 'Taking Away Jobs' As Company Plans 11,000 Software Hires

'We're still hiring software development experts too. AI isn't killing those jobs necessarily. It's letting them do more customer-facing or business-facing tasks versus writing code for hours and hours or working on in-house technical things that AI can do in seconds if we set it up right for them,' one CEO at a solution provider that partners with AWS told CRN. Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman is adamant that AI is not taking away jobs. In fact, Amazon is currently hiring 11,000 new software engineering interns and early-career employees, he says. "Is AI taking away jobs? I actually see the exact inverse," said Garman, CEO of the world's largest cloud company and AI innovator, on stage during Amazon's What's Next event this week. "When I talk to companies here in the Bay Area and when I talk to the teams in Amazon -- they actually find that they're able to attract SDEs [software development engineers]. And when the developers are coming to interview for jobs, they want to know, 'Am I going to have access to the absolute latest development tools? Am I going to be able to use Kiro and Claude Code?'" AWS' Garman said. Garman said Amazon is currently hiring 11,000 new software development engineering interns and full-time early career employees. "Like, that is not jobs going away, right?" he said, referring to the 11,000 jobs. [Related: AWS Vs. Google Cloud Vs. Microsoft Azure Q1 Earnings Face-Off] "I can tell you we are hiring just as many software developers as we ever had inside of Amazon," Garman said. Seattle-based Amazon confirmed to CRN that it's on track to have over 11,000 interns and early-career full-time SDEs joining the company globally in 2026. Garman: Some Developer Skills Might Be 'Less Valuable' The AWS CEO said it's true that some IT expertise around certain skills that AI may be able to do itself will become less valuable. "Maybe it's true that, potentially, being an expert at being able to author a Java code snippet is going to be less valuable in the future than it was maybe a couple of years ago," he said. "But understanding how to author applications, understanding how to solve customer problems, thinking about technology and how all the pieces fit together -- is more valuable than it's ever been," Garman said. For example, Garman said sales professionals are thinking about leveraging AI to do their mundane tasks so they can spend more time with customers. "If you're a salesperson, what we're thinking about is, 'How do we use AI and agents to automate a bunch of the pieces? [So] how do you make sure you load your opportunities into Salesforce effectively, as opposed to freeing up our salespeople's time to have more time to spend with customers, more time helping customers, more time explaining how customers can get value out of the cloud," Garman said. AWS CEO Says Jobs Are Not 'Going Away' Because Of AI One CEO of a solution provider who partners with AWS agreed with Garman's assessment that AI is not going to be a technology employment "job killer." "I understand what he's saying because we see it with our own workforce [in North America], where we're not firing people because of AI. We're giving them AI tools so they don't need to do things that aren't high-level or so they don't need to do so much internal things, which our customers don't care about," said the CEO, who declined to be named. "We're still hiring software development experts too. AI isn't killing those jobs necessarily. It's letting them do more customer-facing or business-facing tasks versus writing code for hours and hours or working on in-house technical things that AI can do in seconds if we set it up right for them," he said. Overall, Garman said jobs are not going away because of AI. However, AI will change the day-to-day tasks employees do. "I think that the nature of every job is going to change. But it's not that jobs are going away. It's just that the high value things we're going to be able to do more of," he said.

AWS CEO Defends AI Layoffs, Announces Massive Developer Hiring Plan

"I can tell you we are hiring just as many software developers as we ever had inside of Amazon," Garman said. "And in fact, I see the demand for that really accelerating." He added that Amazon planned to hire around 11,000 software development engineer (SDE) interns and full-time employees this year, stressing that "this is not jobs going away." Garman highlighted that projects that previously required a two-year timeline are now being completed in just two quarters, showcasing how AI acts as an accelerator for existing teams rather than a replacement. "These agents are increasingly taking over repetitive, tasks such as debugging, writing routine code, or handling operational workflows. But instead of reducing the need for engineers," Garman argues, "they are freeing developers to focus on higher-value work like system design, architecture, and solving complex customer problems." Garman added that this shift is already visible inside Amazon. Teams are fixing bugs in minutes rather than weeks and rebuilding large systems significantly faster with AI-assisted tools. "The jobs will be a little bit different," he explained, pointing out that tasks like writing small code snippets may become less central, while system design and understanding broader architecture are becoming more valuable.