Amazon has undergone one of the most significant workforce expansions in modern corporate history, growing from an online retail giant into an international business employing more than 1.5 million people.

In 2015, Amazon employed approximately 230,800 full-time and part-time workers worldwide. By the end of 2025, its workforce had reached 1.58 million employees, according to the company's annual filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Over those 10 years, Amazon added approximately 1.35 million employees on a net basis, representing an increase of nearly 583%.

The expansion was driven by the company's growing e-commerce business, investments in fulfillment and logistics infrastructure, acquisitions, and increased demand for online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, workforce growth was not continuous. Amazon experienced substantial hiring increases between 2015 and 2021, followed by employee reductions in 2022 and 2023. Employment subsequently recovered in 2024 and 2025, although it remained below the company's 2021 year-end peak.

Amazon's annual reports provide a historical record of how its worldwide workforce has changed over the past decade.

The figures below represent the company's reported number of full-time and part-time employees as of December 31 each year.

The figures show that Amazon's workforce grew approximately 6.8 times larger between 2015 and 2025.

The largest annual percentage increase occurred in 2017, when employment jumped 65.8%. However, the greatest increase in absolute employee numbers occurred in 2020, when Amazon added approximately 500,000 employees on a net basis.

Between 2015 and 2019, Amazon's global workforce increased from 230,800 to 798,000 employees, more than tripling in four years.

This period coincided with the expansion of the company's online retail operations, fulfillment network, technology infrastructure, and international presence.

One of the most significant developments occurred in 2017, when Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for approximately $13.2 billion, net of cash acquired.

The acquisition brought a large established grocery workforce into Amazon's operations and contributed to the company's rapid employment growth.

Amazon's workforce reached 566,000 employees by December 2017, an increase of approximately 224,600 from the previous year.

The company continued hiring in subsequent years, reaching 647,500 employees in 2018 and 798,000 in 2019.

By the end of 2019, Amazon was already operating with a global workforce more than three times its size in 2015.

The most dramatic expansion in Amazon's workforce occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As consumers increasingly relied on online shopping and home delivery, Amazon expanded its fulfillment and delivery operations to meet rising demand.

In 2020, the company's worldwide employee count increased from 798,000 to 1,298,000, representing a 62.7% annual increase.

In his 2020 letter to shareholders, founder Jeff Bezos reported that Amazon had hired approximately 500,000 employees during the year.

The hiring surge continued in 2021, when Amazon's workforce grew by another 310,000 employees, reaching 1,608,000 by December 31.

Across 2020 and 2021, Amazon's reported year-end workforce increased by approximately 810,000 employees, more than doubling compared with its pre-pandemic level in 2019.

This period marked the fastest sustained expansion in the company's employment history within the decade examined.

Following the pandemic-driven expansion, Amazon entered a period of workforce adjustments.

By the end of 2022, its global employee count had declined to 1,541,000, approximately 67,000 fewer than at the end of 2021.

The decline continued in 2023, when Amazon reported 1,525,000 employees.

Together, these reductions represented a net decrease of approximately 83,000 employees between December 2021 and December 2023, equivalent to 5.2% of its workforce.

The reductions occurred as Amazon reassessed staffing levels and operating costs following several years of rapid expansion.

In January 2023, the company announced plans to eliminate approximately 18,000 positions. In March, CEO Andy Jassy announced a further 9,000 planned job reductions.

These corporate restructuring announcements were distinct from the company's overall changes in employee numbers, which also reflected hiring, departures, and other workforce movements.

Despite two consecutive years of declining employment, Amazon still ended 2023 with approximately 727,000 more employees than it had in 2019.

After declining in 2022 and 2023, Amazon's global workforce began growing again.

The company reported 1,556,000 employees at the end of 2024, an increase of approximately 31,000 from the previous year.

Employment increased again in 2025, reaching 1,576,000 employees, representing annual growth of 1.3%.

The recovery occurred alongside continued organizational restructuring.

In October 2025, Amazon announced plans to reduce its corporate workforce by approximately 14,000 roles, explaining that it intended to reduce management layers, simplify organizational structures, and redirect resources toward priority investments.

Nevertheless, Amazon's company-wide year-end employee count increased by approximately 20,000 in 2025.

This distinction highlights the importance of separating announced corporate job reductions from changes in Amazon's total global employment.

Although the workforce recovered over the final two years of the period, the 2025 employee count remained approximately 32,000 below the peak recorded in 2021.

Amazon's reported employee figures cover full-time and part-time employees across its global operations, including retail, fulfillment, logistics, technology, physical stores, and corporate functions.

The figures are drawn from the company's annual Form 10-K filings, including its 2015 annual report and 2025 annual report.

Amazon also uses independent contractors and temporary personnel to support its operations, but these workers are excluded from its reported employee counts.

Consequently, the figures do not represent every individual involved in Amazon's broader business network.

The annual totals are also year-end snapshots rather than average employment levels throughout each year. Amazon notes that its workforce can fluctuate because of seasonal factors affecting its business.

These distinctions are important when comparing employment levels across years or evaluating the effect of hiring announcements and workforce reductions.

Amazon's employment growth between 2015 and 2025 reflects the scale of the company's expansion across retail, logistics, technology, and international markets.

Its workforce increased from approximately 230,800 to 1,576,000 employees, a net addition of more than 1.3 million people.

The decade included several distinct phases, from rapid expansion before the pandemic to an unprecedented hiring surge in 2020 and 2021, followed by workforce reductions and a gradual recovery.

Despite those fluctuations, Amazon finished 2025 with nearly seven times as many employees as it had at the end of 2015.

The figures illustrate how dramatically the company's operating scale changed over the decade, even as its workforce growth slowed considerably following the pandemic.