Amazon CEO Andy Jassy gave a tough motivational talk to employees at Tuesday’s internal staff meeting. He encouraged them to work together in an effort to overcome unusually difficult times.
Jassy stated that there is still much work to be done to improve Amazon’s existing businesses and new businesses across all teams as well as the company’s culture. It will take many months and some moves by the company will be misunderstood. A recording of the all hands meeting shows that he promised his employees that they would “redefine Amazon” and help the company move forward.
Jassy stated, “This isn’t work that will take one or two month. You know, we’re going make progress, meaningful progress each month but this will take many more months. I’m confident that we will misunderstand and be underrated.”
It won’t be the first or last time that it happens. Focusing on customers and realizing that all owners have a part in making this happen. All of us being part of it, I am confident that we will deliver an incredible amount and redefine Amazon. He said that he believes that our best days lie ahead of us and that he looks forward to working with everyone.
Jassy’s remarks were made in response to an employee query about recent cost reductions and investments that Amazon has made. Amazon was hit hard by a slowing economy and a significant growth slowdown, and laid off 18,000 employees last month. A number of long-term projects were also shut down HTML1. Amazon also committed to investing in areas such as healthcare and grocery shopping.
Amazon’s spokesperson did not respond to our request for comment.
Jassy stated that Amazon began to see “a very uncertain economic climate” in the summer of last year as it was making operational plans for next year. The company needed to cut costs due to the large expansion and the hiring Amazon, which resulted in layoffs, a freeze on hiring, and the cancellation of many projects.
Jassy stated, “Any leadership team and all of us collectively have to always look at what’s happening in the macro-economy and our businesses.” “I understand that this is and feels like an extremely difficult time.
Amazon did not hesitate to ensure it saved the money needed to pursue strategic long-term investments that could “change broad customers experiences.” Jassy listed a number of investment areas, including grocery; international markets; entertainment music and video streaming; the Alexa voice-assistant and personal devices; Zoox autonomous cars; Project Kuiper broadband satellites and healthcare.
“The collection I just mentioned is a remarkable set of innovations we are pursuing. Jassy stated that he doesn’t know of any other company who is pursuing such a collection.
Jassy encouraged employees to work together as a team. It’s often a “series” of things that makes companies grow. To help Amazon succeed, he suggested that every employee should do these three things:
Focus- Amazon has stopped hiring as many people, which will allow Jassy to be more productive in the coming year. He said, “There’s so many things that we can do.”
Be customer obsessed-Customer obsession is a core value of Amazon’s culture. But it’s especially important right now. These are difficult and uncertain times. Jassy stated that customers can reprioritize their priorities and rethink what is most important.
Be an Owner-Take control of your work and show passion, he stated. He said that companies must work together in times of uncertainty and stress the importance of being frugal to reduce costs. We need to work together because competition is tough enough. He said, “Think about how we can speedy and insurgent.”