In early 2023, Amazon’s employment in Washington state, including warehouse and corporate workers, decreased by 3,000 employees to 87,000, marking the company’s first recorded year-over-year employment decline since its founding nearly 30 years ago. However, Amazon is still expanding its workforce in downtown Bellevue while seeing a decline in employment at its main headquarters campus in Seattle. At the same time, the company is continuing to grow its employee base in Virginia, where its second headquarters is located. Amazon periodically updates its state-by-state employment and other economic statistics on its Investing in the U.S. page to provide insight into its impact at the state level.
The company added 22,500 employees in the U.S. between early 2023 and 2024, showing a return to growth after a significant decline of nearly 100,000 employees domestically the year before. However, this growth is slower compared to previous years. California remains Amazon’s largest state for employment with 153,000 workers as of January 2024, despite a decline of 9,000 employees over the year. The company also expanded its workforce to include employees in Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana, leaving Vermont as the last state without Amazon employees.
Amazon’s total global employment decreased year-over-year from 1.541 million to 1.525 million by the end of 2023. The company’s U.S. employment now represents about 67% of its total global workforce, up from about 65% in 2023 but down from about 72% in 2020. Amazon spokesperson Zach Goldsztejn stated that employee number changes reflect the needs of the company’s business as it adjusts its hiring requirements to better serve customers. The company has been spreading its workforce across its “Puget Sound headquarters,” with 12,000 corporate and tech employees in Bellevue, alongside declining employment at its Seattle headquarters.
Amazon’s corporate headquarters in Seattle saw a decline in employment from 60,000 employees in 2020 to 50,000 currently. The company also experienced two major waves of layoffs in early 2023, cutting 27,000 corporate and tech jobs globally. However, these numbers do not account for the recent job cuts announced within Amazon Web Services. On the other hand, Virginia, which includes Amazon’s HQ2 in Arlington, grew by 3,000 employees over the past year to reach 39,000 employees as of January. Overall, Amazon’s employment trends in different states show fluctuations in its workforce composition as the company adjusts to meet changing business needs.
