Retail giant Amazon plans to shed more than 100 San Diego jobs related to software development, which has been tied to artificial intelligence gains and a struggling video game division.

Amazon will lay off 145 workers in San Diego, with their last day set as Jan. 26, said a WARN notice required by state law. It was part of a nationwide layoff of 14,000 corporate workers.

The Seattle-based company had been increasing its San Diego office presence — outside of its retail warehouses — since 2017. It has hired hundreds of local video game developers, software engineers and numerous positions related to technology.

In a blog post, the company said the nationwide layoffs were part of an effort to be leaner and less bureaucratic. It also cited AI as a reason to cut costs.

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” wrote Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon. “We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and businesses.”

While dozens of different positions were listed on the San Diego WARN notice, the single biggest cuts were to software development engineers, with more than 50 positions eliminated. Many analysts, like those at Goldman Sachs, have listed the position as one of the most vulnerable to AI. Writing simpler code, for everything from mobile phone applications to computer software, can be done more quickly by AI than a human, they say.

Kevin Carroll, executive director of industry trade group Tech San Diego, said artificial intelligence has slowed hiring for junior software developers, but it hasn’t been a bloodbath of firings. He said software developers are still needed because AI can’t do everything.

“I don’t want to minimize the impact (AI) will have,” he said, “but you are still going to need those mid- to senior-level software developers to manage that.”

Carroll said that San Diegans concerned with the local economy shouldn’t worry too much about the negative effects of AI. He said Qualcomm’s major AI focus, recently announcing new AI accelerator chips, and an abundance of skilled computer engineering students graduating from local universities, will likely make the region a hub for the young technology’s growth.

Software developers are still sought-after, according to state data that aggregates job listings. It was the fourth-most sought position in September in San Diego County with 769 job advertisements. Yet that is down from the heyday of 2018 to 2019 when it was the most in-demand position. There were 1,688 ads for software developers in August 2019.

Amazon hasn’t been shy about saying AI could change its business. CEO Andy Jassy wrote a blog post in June where he talked about major investments in the technology and what it could mean.

“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” he wrote. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”

Using AI as a reason for layoffs has now coined a new term, “AI washing.” The concept, cited by CNBC in several articles, has several experts claiming many large companies are using it as a justification for old-fashioned cost-cutting.

Another factor at play in the Amazon layoffs is its struggling video game division, which is primarily based in San Diego and Irvine. It was unclear from the company how many of the 14,000 job cuts were related to the division.  Steve Boom, vice president of Audio, Twitch, and Games, sent a letter (obtained by Deadline and other publications) to workers in late October that stated it needed to take a “critical look at the evolving dynamics of the games industry.”

Amazon leases roughly 250,000 square feet of office space in San Diego, mostly in the University Center area, said retail tracker CoStar. The layoffs aren’t expected to cause enough of a disturbance to require the company to pull out of leases. For comparison, Amazon owns or leases roughly 6.5 million square feet of warehouse space across San Diego County for its robust retail operation. It also has a 344,000-square-foot warehouse in Tijuana.

Amazon said in its’ layoff blog post that it would be offering most of the laid-off workers 90 days to look for a new job within the company, and recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates for open jobs.

For those who can’t find other Amazon jobs, the company said it will offer severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits for an unspecified amount of time.

San Diego County supervisors Paloma Aguirre and Monica Montgomery Steppe have proposed an expansion of residential withdrawal management, commonly known as detox services.

At a press conference earlier this month, they discussed the new treatment beds that will be added in the region. This initiative aims to combat homelessness and substance use for county residents.

“Homelessness and substance abuse disorder continue to be among the biggest challenges facing San Diego County,” Aguirre said. “Every night an estimated 10,000 people sleep unsheltered, and in the past year alone, 293 lives were lost from drug- or alcohol-related causes. 

“These numbers represent real people and a system that needs to do better. We have a chance to change that. To build a system that saves lives instead of losing them.”

In District 1, only two withdrawal management beds are available to residents, a number that Aguirre said is far too low to accommodate the community.

“That leaves many waiting in the emergency room or struggling in the streets without support,” she said. “This isn’t about a lack of compassion, it’s about the need for urgency.”

Aguirre announced that 44 new treatment beds are being added downtown, which is enough to help 2,700 people each year to take the first step toward recovery, stability and housing.

Montgomery Steppe, who represents District 4, said that downtown and central San Diego are home to the most people experiencing homelessness while being impacted by drug use.

She hopes that with the increase in the number of withdrawal management beds, those who need help will be able to obtain it faster and more efficiently.

“Addiction doesn’t stop at district boundaries; it’s a countywide challenge that demands resources where the need is greatest,” Montgomery Steppe said. “Every day, San Diegans struggling with substance use disorder are reaching out for help, and too often they are being told there are no beds available for them.”

SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A pedestrian suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a motorcyclist in the Pacific Beach community of San Diego, authorities said.

The crash occurred about 9:20 p.m. Friday in the 1900 block of Garnet Avenue, the San Diego Police Department reported.

A 35-year-old man was walking southbound on the east crosswalk — against the red “Don’t Walk” signal — when he was struck by a 21-year-old man riding a Suzuki 1500 motorcycle eastbound in the 1900 block of Garnet Avenue.

The 35-year-old man suffered a lacerated liver, a fractured femur and several other fractures. The biker sustained multiple abrasions. Paramedics rushed the 35-year-old man to a hospital. It was not known whether the motorcyclist was sent to a hospital.

DUI was not suspected and there was no other immediate information available.

Anyone with any information regarding the crash was urged to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

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