Some Amazon employees got a worrying calendar invitation on Tuesday, stoking more concern about job cuts that are expected in coming days.
The invitation addressed impending job cuts and mentioned “Project Dawn,” an initiative to improve efficiency at Amazon, according to a copy obtained by Business Insider.
The invitation had the subject line “Send Project Dawn email” and was written by Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of AWS Solutions, although it appears to have been sent by an assistant.
The invitation was for a calendar event at 5 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, but it was canceled shortly after it was sent. Some employees noticed it and shared the information with Business Insider.
“This is a continuation of the work we’ve been doing for more than a year to strengthen the company by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy, so that we can move faster for customers,” the accompanying message read. “The notifications to impacted colleagues in our organization who are based in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica have now been completed.”
“Changes like this are hard on everyone,” Aubrey’s message continued. “These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success.”
Amazon plans to cut thousands of corporate roles in coming days, Business Insider previously reported. The reductions would mark the company’s second round of mass layoffs since October, when it eliminated roughly 14,000 jobs. An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
After the calendar invitation landed, confusion spread across an internal Slack channel with more than 36,000 Amazon employees, according to messages viewed by Business Insider. Staff questioned whether the message had been intended for Aubrey’s entire organization or only for those whose roles were being eliminated.
“Am I impacted or sent by mistake to all?” one employee wrote.
Others saw the email as confirmation that the expected layoffs were imminent.
“Well, if you needed solid proof that tomorrow is legit, the project dawn email is it,” one person wrote. “Looks like they wanted to use AI to send an email tomorrow and instead it sent a calendar invite today.”
It remains unclear which teams will be affected by the cuts. Some Amazon employees who spoke to Business Insider theorized that staff who received the accidental invitation may not be among those getting cut.
“People are speculating you’re safe if invited,” one employee said.
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