Amazon is trying to rehire workers it laid off, emails show

Amazon wants former employees back, including some it laid off.

The company is reaching out to eligible former employees about open roles across Amazon, including in its cloud-computing and AI businesses, according to recruiter emails obtained by Business Insider and a company spokesperson.

In one outreach last month, Amazon’s AI agent organization, led by AWS VP Swami Sivasubramanian, invited former employees in AI and machine learning fields to discuss new roles through what a recruiter called “Swami’s Boomerang Reengagement Initiative.”

In another case, an AWS Finance recruiter offered a former employee a shortened path back to an offer and asked whether Amazon’s return-to-office policy had driven the employee away.

“A lot has changed since you were here, and there’s some really compelling work happening across AI/ML right now,” one of the emails stated.

The emails show Amazon tapping its alumni network in the fight for AI talent against the…