Is Amazon monitoring its employees’ phones?

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took over the top leadership position from Jeff Bezos four years ago, and it has now been reported that he has adopted a “hardline approach” to change the way the company runs internally.

Over the past year, Amazon has cut back on management layers, which has raised the worker-to-manager ratio by 15 per cent.

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Jassy’s aim since taking charge has been to bring back the urgency and discipline that were once a part of Amazon’s culture.

He is reportedly working towards this by using a hardline method in how employees are managed.

Here’s what we know:

Inside Amazon CEO’s ‘hardine approach’

After years of rapid growth followed by heavy losses when the pandemic boom collapsed, Andy Jassy has been tasked with bringing back the urgency and discipline that once shaped Amazon’s culture but had started to fade.

The idea is to take Amazon back to the basics of what made it successful in the first place.

For this reason, he wants to transform the company’s work culture. But how?

Jassy has enforced strict rules by keeping track of usage on company-issued phones, mainly to see how much of it was work-related, according to Business Insider.

His plan also required most employees to return to the office five days a week.

Performance metrics and pay structures were revised.

Part of this included keeping a close check on whether staff were using company phones for work.

The CEO also introduced what he called a “bureaucracy mailbox,” where employees could report unnecessary rules or processes that should be simplified or removed.

This move is said to have brought about 375 changes inside the company.

At an internal all-hands meeting earlier this year, Jassy reportedly said, “We want to operate the world’s largest startup at our size — that has not been done before. It is hard to do, but it is doable.”

Have these measures worked?

Some argue that the new approach is helping the company. Over the past year, Amazon’s stock has risen by more than 30 per cent, beating the Nasdaq.

Profit per employee also increased to $44,100 last year, reportedly five times higher than in 2022.

Babak Parviz, a former Amazon vice president who now heads the AI healthcare startup NewDays, told Business Insider that during the pandemic, creativity took a hit, and the close-knit culture unique to Amazon also weakened.

“Andy is rightfully focusing on making sure that the Amazon culture is maintained and thriving, and it doesn’t dissipate away,” he said.

What do the employees think?

In his fifth year leading the company, Jassy has focused less on splashy hires or major products and more on reshaping Amazon’s culture and positioning it for long-term success.

Reports say layers of bureaucracy had been slowing operations, while several initiatives were struggling and needed to be cut back. Early in his leadership, Jassy made it clear that culture was his main priority.

However, not all employees are convinced about the changes, especially the push to return to the office.

Middle managers now handle bigger teams, and junior leaders feel left out, claiming that key decisions are concentrated among a small group of senior executives.

The cost-cutting drive has also caused unease. Some staff have raised concerns about being asked to detail their expenses down to individual meals during business trips. Many also worry about job security.

At one company-wide meeting, Jassy reportedly said, “We want owners,” adding, “What would I do if this was my money?”

He said that the best leaders are those who “get the most done with the least amount of resources required to do the job."

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), some workers now log what percentage of their phone use is work-related, and the $50 monthly reimbursement is adjusted accordingly, according to Business Insider.

In the retail division, employees reportedly need approval for travel, laying out their goals and expected returns in advance. They are also required to provide detailed expense reports, breaking them down meal by meal.

In some teams, performance is measured by how much staff use AI tools. Others see having an AI project as just another requirement to tick off. A number of employees have described this as “AI fatigue.”