AWS exec Matt Garman: Amazon still hiring software engineers amid tech layoffs

Cloud hiring is the part of the tech labor story that looks contradictory until you zoom in. Amazon is still cutting layers and shrinking parts of its corporate workforce, but AWS chief executive Matt Garman is also telling people the company is still hiring software developers. Both things can be true at once — and right now, they are. The reason is simple. Amazon is not signaling a broad return to easy hiring. It is signaling that some engineering work still sits close to the company’s core bets — cloud infrastructure, AI tooling, and the systems that keep AWS growing. Garman said at Amazon’s “What’s Next with AWS” event that the company is hiring “just as many software developers as we ever have” and that demand for developers is “really accelerating.” PCMag also said he pointed to plans to hire 11,000 software engineering interns in 2026, roughly in line with prior years. ### Why does that sound so strange? Because Amazon has spent the last several months doing the opposite in public. In late January, the company said it would eliminate about 16,000 corporate jobs as part of a push to reduce management layers, increase ownership, and remove bureaucracy. That came after another round of roughly 14,000 corporate layoffs announced in October 2025. So when an AWS executive says “we’re still hiring,” people hear “the layoffs are over.” That is not what this means. It means Amazon is still willing to add technical talent in areas it thinks directly support future revenue or strategic control. The cuts and the hiring are aimed at different parts of the org. ### What kind of engineers is Amazon talking about? Not every engineer equally. The clearest signal is AWS itself. Amazon’s jobs site currently shows AWS building a central pipeline of software development engineer talent for anticipated 2026 roles, including standard SDE postings updated in late April. That suggests this is not just stage talk at an event — there is an active recruiting channel behind it. But Garman also hinted the jobs “will be a little bit different.” That matters. Basically, Amazon seems to be hiring for work shaped by AI, automation, and cloud scale rather than refilling the org chart exactly as it existed before. ### Why would AWS stay aggressive while Amazon cuts elsewhere? Because AWS is still one of Amazon’s most important engines. If Amazon believes AI demand is going to keep pushing customers toward cloud compute, storage, custom chips, and developer tools, then starving AWS of engineering talent would be self-defeating. The company can cut managers, trim slower-moving teams, and still spend on builders tied to infrastructure. Think of it less like “rehiring after layoffs” and more like pruning one branch to feed another. There is also a practical reason. AI changes the kind of software work companies need, but it does not eliminate the need for software engineers inside a cloud platform. If anything, it shifts demand toward people who can build internal tooling, data systems, security layers, and the infrastructure customers rent. That fits Garman’s argument that developer demand is accelerating, even as the shape of the job changes. ### Does this mean tech hiring is back? Not broadly. It means the market is getting more selective. Amazon’s own recent history shows that even engineering roles are not automatically safe — CNBC reported that a large share of the company’s 2025 cuts in some states hit engineers. So the real lesson is narrower: companies still want engineers, but mostly where the work is hard to automate, close to infrastructure, or tied to AI-era spending. ### So what’s the bottom line? Amazon is still in cost-cutting mode, but AWS is not acting like a business in retreat. Garman’s message is that software hiring continues where Amazon sees leverage — especially in cloud and AI infrastructure. For engineers, that is the key distinction. The door is open, but not for every kind of role.