In a corporate gaffe of epic proportions, Amazon has inadvertently plunged its workforce into chaos after an internal email confirming mass layoffs was accidentally sent to the very employees slated for the axe. The blunder has exposed "Project Dawn," the code name for the tech giant’s latest restructuring effort.

The panic began on Tuesday evening when an executive assistant, seemingly in error, distributed a calendar invite to staff within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division. Attached to the invite was a draft email written by Colleen Aubrey, Senior Vice President of Applied AI Solutions. The subject line read: "Send Project Dawn email."

"You Have Already Been Informed"

The content of the attached draft was devastating. It falsely stated that employees in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica "had already been informed" that their roles were being eliminated. In reality, no such notifications had been made. The email was a template intended for release after the difficult conversations had taken place on Wednesday morning.

"It was a gut punch," said one AWS engineer who received the invite. "Imagine finding out you’re fired because someone clicked Send All on a meeting invite. It’s dystopian."

The Damage Control

The invite was quickly recalled, but the damage was done. Screenshots flooded the anonymous workplace app Blind, and morale collapsed instantly. Aubrey was forced to issue a follow-up memo, apologizing for the "anxiety and confusion" caused by the error, but she did not deny the impending cuts. "Changes like this are hard on everyone," she wrote, confirming the layoffs were indeed real and imminent.

• The Scope: "Project Dawn" is reportedly targeting thousands of roles across AWS, Retail, and Human Resources. It is part of CEO Andy Jassy’s relentless drive to trim the "covid-bloat" and pivot resources toward Generative AI.
• The Irony: Amazon, a company that prides itself on operational excellence and high-tech efficiency, failing at the basic task of email management adds a layer of dark irony to the tragedy.

A pattern of clumsiness

This is not the first time tech layoffs have been mishandled, but the "Project Dawn" leak sets a new low for insensitivity. It strips away the polished corporate PR veneer, revealing the cold, mechanical process behind mass firings. For the employees waiting for the official meeting today, the trust is broken. They now know they are just lines on a spreadsheet, managed by leaders who can’t even manage their Outbox.