Amazon is increasing its efforts to rehire former employees, with positions covering AWS, AI, and some functional teams. Recruitment emails obtained by Business Insider show that the company has recently taken the initiative to contact eligible former employees, hoping that they will reapply for the available positions.

AI The team directly contacts former employees

One of the emails came from the AI agent team at Amazon. This team is led by Vice President Swami Sivasubramanian. They are recruiting former employees who have worked in AI and machine learning to discuss new job opportunities.

Another recruitment email from the finance team of AWS indicates that some former employees can follow a shorter process upon returning. The email states that by completing a simplified interview, they may directly proceed to the offer stage.

The recruitment focus is not limited to AI.

An Amazon spokesperson, Haley Silva, stated that rehiring former employees has always been a long-term and regular recruitment method for the company, and it is not limited to AI or new projects in the cloud computing business. She mentioned that eligible former employees also include those who have been laid off before, but the company is currently focusing on recruiting for vacant positions.

Silva also indicates that Amazon's current requirements for returning to office have not changed. Over the past year, Amazon has cut more than 30,000 jobs through multiple rounds of layoffs. Now, by recontacting former employees familiar with the company's system, it seems that they wish to shorten the recruitment and onboarding cycle.

Returning to work in the office remains a barrier to recruitment.

Relevant emails also reflect that the policy of returning to office is still a real issue in Amazon's recruitment process. A AWS recruiter, when contacting former employees, specifically asked whether their resignation was mainly due to the requirement to return to office, stating that this would help the company adjust its subsequent communication methods.

Business Insider Previous reports have stated that Amazon's requirement for employees to be on site five days a week and for centralized office locations once affected its AI recruitment process. Some candidates were even willing to accept lower salaries in exchange for more flexible remote working arrangements.

From a broader employment market perspective, the practice of rehiring former employees is on the rise. ADP Salary data shows that in March 2025, approximately 35% of newly hired employees in the United States were former employees returning to the workforce, up from 31% a year earlier; in the tech industry, this proportion is close to two-thirds.