Amazon CEO Andy Jassy asks employees to work from home 5 days a week, saying “we want to operate like the world’s largest startup”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has revealed a major organizational shakeup aimed at streamlining the company’s management structure and returning employees to the office full-time starting in January. The move, which affects one of the world’s largest online retail and cloud computing companies, is a response to growing internal concerns about operational inefficiencies, Bloomberg reported.

The changes were announced in a memo to employees on September 16, with Jassy highlighting how Amazon’s internal processes had become stagnant due to unnecessary layers of management and bureaucracy, the report said.

Amazon simplifies management structure

In the memo, Jassy acknowledged challenges that many employees have been expressing for years, noting that excessive deliberation, duplicate meetings and too many layers of approval had become the norm. “Pre-decision meetings, where a long list of managers felt they needed to review a topic before moving forward,” Jassy wrote, highlighting the need for change, “as described in the report.”

As part of the reorganization, every major department within Amazon must increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15% by March 2025. The adjustment is designed to empower employees so that they can make decisions more effectively, thereby reducing red tape that hinders progress. The Bloomberg report also added that in order to further combat bureaucracy, Jassy launched a new “bureaucracy reporting hotline” through which employees can report unnecessary procedures.

“We want to operate like the world’s largest startup,” Bloomberg cited an internal memo as saying, adding that the company must prioritize innovation, fast decision-making and strong collaboration.

Forced return to work triggers strong reaction

Another important part of Jassy’s statement is Amazon’s new return-to-work policy, which stipulates that all office employees must return to the office five days a week starting in January 2024. Previously, Amazon required employees to work in the office at least three days a week, and some remote positions could be arranged flexibly. It is reported that exemptions from this new policy will be considered for special circumstances or positions that have been approved for remote work.

“We understand that some of our teammates may have arranged their personal lives so that returning to the office five days a week will require some adjustment,” Jassy wrote, giving employees plenty of time to prepare for the change.

Amazon’s past missteps

A report from information A 2022 investigation revealed that Amazon, while promoting the use of cameras and sensors to track customer purchases, also hired hundreds of Indian employees to monitor and verify what customers took. These remote workers acted as virtual cashiers, reviewing transactions and ensuring accuracy. The report stated that more than 1,000 workers were involved in the process, taking on tasks traditionally performed by local employees and effectively outsourcing the role of cashiers.