Amazon CEO Andy Jassy revealed that the company’s streamlined decision-making process is a key factor in his continued leadership, as the tech giant moves forward with plans to cut thousands of middle management positions by March 2025.
“The reality is that the [senior leadership team] and I hate bureaucracy,” Jassy said at a November all-hands meeting, according to Business Insider.”One of the reasons I’m still at this company is because it’s not a political or bureaucratic place.”
The CEO’s comments come amid a major restructuring effort announced in September, requiring senior leadership teams to increase their ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of first quarter 2025. To achieve this goal, newly leaked Amazon Web Services sales guidelines mandate managers to oversee a minimum of eight direct reports, up from the previous requirement of six.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the restructuring could result in approximately 13,834 manager positions being eliminated, potentially saving the company between $2.1 billion and $3.6 billion annually. The estimate assumes managers earn between $200,000 and $350,000 per year.
To combat excessive bureaucracy, Jassy created a “Bureaucracy Mailbox” in September for employees to report cumbersome processes. The initiative has already received over 500 emails, with the company implementing changes based on more than 150 employee suggestions.
The reorganization follows recent layoffs across multiple departments, including dozens of workers in communications and sustainability, and 200 employees from the North America stores team. The company’s AWS division, which employs about 115,000 of Amazon’s 1.55 million total workforce, will see significant changes as the restructuring continues through the first quarter.