Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is reportedly reaching out to former employees, including those who were laid off, to fill vacant positions in its cloud-computing and artificial intelligence sectors. According to a report by Business Insider, the company’s AI agent organization, led by AWS Vice President Swami Sivasubramanian, has launched the “Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.” This program aims to rehire former staff members who specialize in AI and machine learning.
The initiative includes instances where an AWS Finance recruiter contacted a former employee. The recruiter offered a shortened path to a new job offer and asked if Amazon’s return-to-office policy had contributed to the individual’s departure. The recruiter cited the company’s new opportunities in AI and machine learning as a reason to consider returning. Amazon is reportedly offering a quicker route back to some former employees and is also reconsidering its return-to-office policy to determine if it acted as a deterrent.
A spokesperson for Amazon, Haley Silva, confirmed that this “boomerang hiring” is a regular practice across the company. She stated that it is not a new initiative exclusive to AI or cloud computing. A previous report from Business Insider, citing Revelio Labs, noted that 3.4% of U.S. new hires were “boomerang” employees at the end of 2025, an increase from 3.1% two years earlier.
The article also notes that Amazon previously announced approximately 16,000 job cuts earlier this year as part of an organizational restructuring. The company offered most U.S.-based employees 90 days to seek internal positions, with those who do not secure new roles receiving severance pay, outplacement assistance, and health insurance benefits. The cuts included about 14,000 layoffs in October 2025 alongside January workforce reductions, representing nearly 10% of the company’s corporate workforce.
