"Andy Jassy is trying to reset Amazon's culture by getting rid of excess layers of middle management. The Amazon CEO stated on Tuesday at the company's annual conference for third-party sellers that he wanted to eliminate bureaucracy to help Amazon grow and innovate more quickly. Bureaucracy is not compatible with "startups" and "entrepreneurial organizations," but it is "really easy to accumulate," according to Jassy."
"Jassy wrote in his latest annual shareholder letter in April that Amazon must "strive to operate like the world's largest startup" by solving real customer problems, working quickly, reducing bureaucracy and being willing to take risks. Jassy's latest remarks on Tuesday follow Amazon's attempts across the past year to flatten its organization and eliminate excess layers. In September 2024, Jassy asked each team within the company to reduce the number of managers by at least 15%."
"A leaked guidelines document in January showed that Amazon accomplished this without layoffs by asking managers to increase their number of direct reports, pause hiring new managers, and demote some employees down a level to non-managerial positions. Managers are now required to have at least eight team members as direct reports, an increase from the six that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos mandated in 2017, according to the document."
Amazon is removing excess middle-management layers and cutting bureaucracy to accelerate growth and innovation. The company emphasizes operating like the world's largest startup by solving customer problems, moving quickly, reducing bureaucracy, and taking risks. Teams were instructed to reduce the number of managers by at least 15% and increase managers' spans of control. The company achieved reductions without layoffs by increasing direct reports, pausing hiring for new managers, and moving some employees to non-managerial roles. Managers are now required to have at least eight direct reports, up from six. A "Bureaucracy Mailbox" was created to collect employee examples of unnecessary processes.
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