Andy Jassy's Shareholder Letter Describes Changes to Amazon's Organizational Structure and Workforce Culture

By Lina Batarags and Theron Mohamed

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's annual letter to shareholders, released in 2026, addresses the company's global workforce of approximately 1.5 million employees, including about 350,000 corporate positions. The letter comes amid mixed stock performance: Amazon's shares have risen 26% over the past 12 months but are flat year to date and trade about 10% below their all-time high from November.

Small Teams and AI in Development

Jassy highlighted the role of small teams in a project related to Amazon Bedrock, a service that provides access to third-party large language models, including Anthropic's Claude and Meta's Llama.

According to the letter, the Bedrock team initially built and scaled the service but later determined it required a new inference engine, involving a complete architectural change. Jassy wrote that a team of six engineers, using Amazon's agentic coding service called Kiro, developed this new engine—named Mantle—in 76 days. He contrasted this with traditional approaches, stating that such work "might take a team of 40 people about a year to carefully build."

Business Insider has reported on how small teams working with AI can handle workloads typically requiring larger groups.

This emphasis aligns with Jassy's earlier remarks. In February, he stated that humans may no longer be "necessary" for many jobs they have performed over the past 20 to 30 years.

Organizational Flattening and Layoffs

Amazon conducted two significant rounds of layoffs following Jassy's 2024 shareholder letter: 14,000 jobs in October 2025 and 16,000 in January 2026.

In the 2026 letter, Jassy described efforts to flatten the organization, writing: "At Amazon, we talk a lot about operating like the world's biggest startup. It's the primary reason we've worked to flatten our organization the last year, and we're pleased with the improved speed of decision-making and delivery."

During Amazon's third-quarter 2025 earnings call in October, Jassy attributed prior rapid growth to an increase in staff and management layers, which he said had the potential to reduce employee ownership and slow operations. He stated that his leadership team was committed to operating like "the world's largest startup," involving layer reductions, greater ownership, and faster innovation. Jassy added that technological changes necessitated a lean, flat structure to maintain speed.

The letter reiterated the need for speed, with Jassy writing: "You need to move fast, have teammates that act like true owners, and be scrappy."

These changes occur alongside employee concerns about Amazon's AI priorities. In December 2025, more than 1,000 Amazon employees signed an open letter to Jassy criticizing the company's "warp-speed" AI development. The letter argued that such investments prioritized rapid progress over workforce well-being and climate commitments.

Emphasis on Adaptability and Nonlinear Progress

Jassy outlined qualities valued in Amazon employees, including comfort with ambiguity, a willingness to invent and experiment, and a scrappy approach.

He drew from his own career path to illustrate nonlinear progress. After college, Jassy pursued sportscasting but shifted to sports production, coached high school soccer, worked at a golf store, served as a product manager, ran businesses, held sales and investment banking roles, attended graduate school, and joined Amazon three days after his final exams in May 1997.

"Not exactly a straight line," Jassy wrote, applying this to Amazon Web Services' development, which involved multiple pivots.

He stated: "Most long-term endeavors do not follow a linear straight line, up and to the right. Progress jumps around; it'll zig up, then sometimes stall, or zag down, or force you back to the starting line. Sometimes, it feels like you're running in circles. But, the path is rarely straight."

Jassy concluded that handling change and uncertainty is essential: "You have to have people and a culture that are comfortable operating with ambiguity as you sort through the new normal." He added: "Inflections aren't usually smooth or calm. They favor the bold and adaptable."

The letter provides a window into Jassy's perspective on managing a large workforce amid technological shifts, efficiency efforts, and internal debates over priorities.

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