Amazon is actively reaching out to former employees—including some it previously laid off—to fill open roles across the company, particularly in its cloud-computing and artificial intelligence businesses. According to recruiter emails obtained by Business Insider and confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson, the company’s AI agent organization, led by AWS VP Swami Sivasubramanian, has invited former AI and machine-learning specialists to discuss new opportunities through what one recruiter dubbed „Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.” In another instance, an AWS Finance recruiter offered a former employee a shortened interview path back to an offer and even asked whether Amazon’s return-to-office policy had driven the person away, noting that „a lot has changed” and there is „really compelling work happening across AI/ML right now.”
The outreach illustrates how Amazon is leaning on its alumni network to compete for scarce AI talent against rivals such as Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic. By targeting workers whose experience the company already knows, Amazon can offer some a faster route back to employment. The effort comes after Amazon cut more than 30,000 jobs across multiple rounds of layoffs over the past year—among the largest workforce reductions in its history. Amazon spokesperson Haley Silva told Business Insider that boomerang hiring is a normal, longstanding companywide practice rather than a new program limited to AI or cloud computing, and that eligible former workers can include people Amazon laid off, though the company is recruiting for open roles generally and is not specifically targeting those who left over return-to-office requirements.
Amazon has floated rehiring laid-off employees before—in 2023, AWS HR VP Ian Wilson told staff that many workers affected by job cuts were eligible for rehire and encouraged the company to „proactively extend an invitation” to those who wanted to return. The company’s five-day in-office mandate has remained a persistent talent challenge, with Business Insider reporting in 2025 that the policy and office hub requirements were hampering AI recruitment as some candidates accepted lower-paying jobs elsewhere for greater flexibility. Boomerang hiring has been rising broadly across the economy: returning employees made up 35% of U.S. new hires in March 2025, up from 31% a year earlier, according to ADP payroll data, and accounted for nearly two-thirds of new hires in the tech sector. ADP notes that boomerangs bring hard-to-find skills while ramping up faster than outside hires—advantages Amazon appears eager to capture, even as its recruiters acknowledge sensitivities around remote work and location preferences.
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