Amazon is trying to rehire workers it laid off, emails show

Amazon wants former employees back, including some it laid off.

The company is reaching out to eligible former employees about open roles across Amazon, including in its cloud-computing and AI businesses, according to recruiter emails obtained by Business Insider and a company spokesperson.

In one outreach last month, Amazon’s AI agent organization, led by AWS VP Swami Sivasubramanian, invited former employees in AI and machine learning fields to discuss new roles through what a recruiter called “Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.”

In another case, an AWS Finance recruiter offered a former employee a shortened path back to an offer and asked whether Amazon’s return-to-office policy had driven the employee away.

“A lot has changed since you were here, and there’s some really compelling work happening across AI/ML right now,” one of the emails stated.

The emails show Amazon tapping its alumni network in the fight for AI talent against the likes of Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic. It is reaching out to former workers whose experience it already knows, offering some a faster route back, and, in one case, asking whether its in-office mandate drove someone away.

Amazon has cut more than 30,000 jobs in multiple rounds of layoffs over the past year, among the largest workforce reductions in its history.

Haley Silva, an Amazon spokesperson, told Business Insider that boomerang hiring is a normal, longstanding companywide practice, not a new program limited to AI or cloud computing.

Silva said eligible former workers can include people Amazon laid off, but that the company is recruiting for open roles and is not specifically targeting employees who left because of RTO. Amazon’s in-office expectations remain unchanged, she added.

“We’re always interested in connecting with talented people — both new candidates and former Amazonians — for open roles,” Silva said. “Rehiring former employees is a normal, longstanding part of how we recruit, and our rehire and interview practices are consistent across the company.”

Boomerang growth

Amazon has floated rehiring laid-off employees before. In 2023, AWS’s Human Resources VP Ian Wilson told employees that many workers affected by the company’s job cuts were eligible for rehire. He said Amazon should consider how to “proactively extend an invitation” to former employees who wanted to return.

Amazon’s RTO policy has been a persistent talent challenge. Business Insider reported in 2025 that its five-day mandate and office hub requirements were hampering recruitment for AI roles, with some candidates accepting lower-paying jobs elsewhere for more flexibility to work from home.

Boomerang hiring has risen as employers turn to former workers. Returning employees made up 35% of US new hires in March 2025, up from 31% a year earlier, according to ADP payroll data. In the tech sector, they accounted for nearly two-thirds of new hires. ADP said boomerangs can bring hard-to-find skills while getting up to speed faster than outside hires.

The email from the AWS Finance recruiter shows that Amazon’s outreach extends beyond AI. The recruiter told a former employee who had left in good standing that they could complete a short interview loop, then move to an offer.

The recruiter also asked whether RTO had been a primary reason for leaving, saying the response would help Amazon tailor future outreach to the worker’s remote-work and location preferences.

“Please know that I’m sensitive to these concerns,” the recruiter wrote.

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