Amazon recruiters are contacting former employees, including people affected by layoffs, for open positions across AI, machine learning and AWS. The outreach comes after the company eliminated more than 30,000 jobs in a single year, according to emails reviewed by Business Insider.
One effort within Amazon’s AI-agent organization, led by AWS vice president Swami Sivasubramanian, is reportedly called the “Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.” Recruiters have contacted former AI and machine-learning specialists as Amazon works to fill highly competitive technical roles.
A former AWS employee was also offered an accelerated hiring process that could lead to an offer more quickly. Rehiring former staff can reduce onboarding time because candidates already know Amazon’s internal systems and culture—an advantage as Google, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic compete for many of the same specialists.
Amazon said its return-to-office policy has not changed and denied that it is running a dedicated campaign to win back people who left over office-attendance requirements. However, an AWS recruiter reportedly asked a former employee whether return-to-office rules had prompted their departure and whether remote-work or location preferences should be considered in the future.
The company characterizes boomerang hiring as a longstanding practice used across the organization, with former employees who were laid off potentially eligible to return. That approach is unfolding alongside continued restructuring: Amazon announced roughly 16,000 additional job cuts in January 2026.
The hiring push also reflects the value of experienced AI talent as AWS expands its artificial-intelligence infrastructure and hardware efforts. Qualcomm and Amazon AWS recently announced plans to develop custom AI chips, adding another front to the competition for engineers with relevant expertise.
Amazon is not alone in turning to former workers. ADP data cited by Business Insider showed boomerang employees accounted for 35% of US new hires in March 2025, up from 31% a year earlier; in technology, the share was close to two-thirds. For Amazon, the practice underscores how quickly workforce priorities can shift as the AI race intensifies.
