On being told to “continue using technology” after layoffs
I read the memo from Greg Pearson (grp@amazon.com), AWS VP of Global Sales, where he urged remaining employees to “keep finding ways to use technology to simplify our work, amplify our impact, and focus on the activities that directly drive value for our customers.” The context is brutal: Amazon cut roughly 16,000 corporate roles this week, and leaders are framing the next chapter as one of speed, ownership, and leaner operations (Business Insider report).
I want to be clear: I understand why leaders say “do more with less.” I’ve written before about the blunt reality of AI and automation reshaping work—how some tasks will vanish, others will transform, and humans must reframe the value they bring beyond rote processes (Wherefore Art Thou, O Jobs ?). The messaging from Amazon’s HR leadership and the CEO echoes the same tension between efficiency and empathy; Beth Galetti’s announcement laid out support for impacted employees while the company emphasizes a startup-like posture for those who remain (Beth Galetti — galettib@amazon.com). And the strategy is being articulated from the top as well (Andy Jassy — ajassy@amazon.com).
What sits uneasily with me
- Saying “use technology to simplify work” in the middle of layoffs risks being heard as: “We’ll replace people with tools.” That’s not the same as saying: “We will invest in tools to free you to do more human-centered, customer-facing work.”
- Leaders must pair directional exhortations with concrete gestures: time to re-skill, transparent metrics that don’t penalize human judgment, and clear guardrails on where automation augments versus replaces.
A more balanced ask managers can make
If I were writing the follow-up memo, here are the commitments I’d pair with the call to use technology:
- Practical training credits and protected time to learn new tools (not just a link to a course catalog).
- A redesign exercise that maps every team’s top three customer-impact activities and asks: which of these should remain human-led? which can be automated? and which need hybrid flows?
- New performance measures that reward collaboration, judgement, and customer outcomes — not just tool-usage metrics.
When leaders ask people to lean on tech, the subtext should be: we trust you to decide how tech amplifies your judgment — not to substitute it.
For people still inside the company (or anyone navigating career transitions)
- Make a habit of documenting the judgment calls you make each week that technology can’t: the trade-offs, the contextual fixes, the stakeholder negotiations. That record is the raw material of your unique value.
- Learn to pair domain knowledge with tooling: knowing what the tool can do is useful only if you can spot the problems where it should or shouldn’t be applied.
- Invest in the human skills that scale least well with AI: persuasion, synthesis, ethical reasoning, and cross-functional influence.
Final thought — on culture and the long game
Lean, efficient organisations can still be humane. The difference is intentionality. When a VP asks teams to “use technology to simplify work,” it’s an invitation — but it must be followed by commitments that protect dignity and opportunity.
This moment in tech is not just about who is let go and who remains. It’s a test of whether companies choose to make people disposable, or to make technology a force multiplier for people. I choose the latter.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
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