After laying off 30,000 people: Amazon tries to bring employees back to the company

Tech giant Amazon is reaching out to former employees, including those it laid off, offering them a fast-track hiring process for roles in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The move aims to address competition for AI experts against Google and Meta, as well as difficulties in hiring new workers due to the strict five-day in-office requirement.

Tech giant Amazon is attempting to bring former employees back into its ranks, including those it previously laid off, to fill open positions in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Recruiter emails from the company, revealed in Business Insider magazine, show that Amazon is offering former employees an especially fast hiring track. This move comes amid intense competition for AI experts against giants like Google, Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Amazon's AI division has launched a special initiative to rehire former employees in machine learning fields. Meanwhile, a recruiter from AWS's finance division offered a former employee a shortened and accelerated interview process toward a new contract. The recruiter even directly asked whether Amazon's return-to-office policy was what caused the employee to leave the company in the first place. Amazon's return-to-office policy, which requires five days a week in the office, has created significant difficulties in hiring for AI roles, with some candidates preferring lower-paying jobs at other companies that offered flexibility. The rehiring of former employees, known as "boomerang hiring," is becoming a notable trend in the job market. According to ADP data, returning workers made up 35% of all new hires in the United States in March 2025, compared to 31% the year before. In the tech sector, the phenomenon is even more common, with boomerang employees accounting for nearly two-thirds of new hires.