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The cost cutting at Amazon continues to produce financial results. My team grew from 6 to 800 in 9 years. That was awesome for me and we got a lot done, but throwing people at problems eventually led to giant, expensive teams.
I've been told that AWS began with 55 people. I knew some of the first team members and the teams were very small, so this is quite possible. I don't know how many people are in AWS today, but it is more than 55,000. Despite incredible growth, that is a lot of people - a whole city.
Amazon has done a lot of layoffs and allowed a lot of attrition, in part driven by the Return to Office (RTO) policies. They are even thinning the leadership ranks. I hear from more Director+ people who are losing team members, being pushed out, or being moved to non-manager roles as senior individual contributors as the company adjusts.
This trimming of the bloat that accumulated through years of growth is both necessary and working financially (disclosure: yes, I still own Amazon shares). I worry about the long term talent supply given that other companies will offer senior people excellent hybrid or remote roles to attract them. I also worry about a lack of innovation. Despite Amazon's protests, the company clearly missed the first AI wave and is struggling to catch up. Given that the first hype cycle of AI seems to be slowing down, however, it may be that they can do this too.
The bottom line is... that the bottom line is better!
Amazon has managed to clean up and trim down years of over-growth. I was a part of that rapid growth because at the time using extra people for speed was the desired playbook. Now, with a type of maturity, that has changed.
One consequence - it is much harder to move up at Amazon today. The pressure is in fact to delayer the organization and decrease the percentage of senior positions. A good corporate move, but one that makes direct promotion more difficult for individuals.
Which creates our conclusion: whether it is promotion or RTO, what is good for company operations may not be as good for individual careers.
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