{
  "id": 9379222,
  "title": "Amazon re-hiring employees it laid off",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/amazon-re-hiring-employees-it-laid-off",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-23T17:10:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-amazons-surprising-gesture-for-fired-employees-after-30000-layoffs-tech-giant-reaches-out-to-former-workers-for-ai-cloud-jobs/articleshow/134443000.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Amazon, the US-based tech giant, has begun reaching out to its former employees who were laid off in 2026, according to Business Insider. The company is reportedly offering open roles across various departments, including cloud-computing and AI businesses. This move comes after Amazon laid off around 14,000 corporate positions in January, making it the second-largest layoff since October 2025.\n\nThe AI agent team within Amazon's AWS division is spearheaded by Vice President Swami Sivasubramanian. Last month, this team contacted former AI and machine learning employees about potential job opportunities, dubbing the effort \"Swami's Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.\" A recruiter involved in this process explained that Amazon aims to provide a faster path to reemployment and inquired about the employee's experience with the company's return-to-office policy.\n\nAmazon's outreach to former employees is part of a broader strategy to secure AI talent, as competitors like Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic are also vying for these skilled professionals. The company's spokesperson, Haley Silva, confirmed that boomerang hiring is a standard practice at Amazon, not a new initiative solely focused on AI or cloud computing. Silva emphasized that former employees who were laid off may be eligible to return to the company, subject to open positions.\n\nThis reengagement strategy is not unprecedented for Amazon. In 2023, AWS's Human Resources Vice President, Ian Wilson, informed employees that those affected by the company's job cuts were eligible for rehire. Amazon's rehire practices remain consistent across the organization, and the company's in-office requirements have not changed.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}