Amazon Tops the List of Big Tech Companies in Terms of Severance Costs — BI

U.S. tech giants have spent billions of dollars on severance payments to employees laid off as part of large-scale workforce reductions and business restructuring, according to Business Insider. The publication analyzed annual reports and ranked companies based on their severance pay expenses.

Amazon, the largest online retailer in the U.S., topped the list. At the end of 2025, the company recognized estimated severance costs of $2.7 billion. Of that amount, $1.8 billion was set aside in the third quarter alone. During that period, Amazon announced the layoff of up to 30,000 employees—nearly 10% of its office workforce. Amazon began restructuring its workforce following a massive hiring spree during the pandemic.

"It turns out that each layoff cost Amazon $60,000," Business Insider calculated.

Amazon was the only company among the “Magnificent Seven” to disclose severance costs as a separate line item in its financial report. Apple, Meta, Nvidia, and Alphabet did not publish such data, while Tesla and Microsoft—which, according to Business Insider sources, is currently preparing a new round of layoffs—combine severance payments with other expenses. As a result, the publication excluded them from its analysis.

Oracle and Intel tied for second place in the ranking of layoff costs. Each of these companies spent approximately $1.8 billion on laid-off employees.

Oracle's workforce decreased by 21,000 employees between May 2025 and May 2026. The company’s restructuring costs, which include severance pay and related expenses, rose by 391%—from $374 million to nearly $1.8 billion. “As our cloud and AI businesses grow, we will continue to reallocate resources and restructure our development teams to deliver the best products to our customers,” a company spokesperson said.

In 2025, Intel cut its workforce by about 15%—more than 25,000 people. The large-scale layoffs were part of a cost-cutting program led by CEO Lip-Bu Tan. On average, each laid-off employee received more than $70,000 in severance pay. Intel did not respond to a request for comment.

Cisco reported severance costs of $617 million, while Dell reported $569 million. Chipmakers AMD and Micron spent significantly less: $79 million and $30 million, respectively.

Dell has been cutting its workforce for several years amid falling demand for personal computers. Over the past three years, the company’s workforce has shrunk by 36,000 employees—or 27%. Cisco has allocated the funds saved through restructuring to the development of artificial intelligence technologies. Representatives from Dell, Cisco, AMD, and Micron did not respond to inquiries from Business Insider.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor