Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's Pep Talk to Employees Revealed in Leaked Audio: 'We Will Be Misunderstood and We Will Be Underrated' In leaked audio, the CEO of Amazon attempted to redirect focus and priorities in a message to employees after laying off thousands.
By Gabrielle Bienasz •
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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy gave employees a passionate pitch for reinvigorating the company on Tuesday — a little over a month after laying off some 18,000 employees — according to audio obtained by Insider.
In the all-hands meeting, Jassy tried to rally employees and talked about the "opportunity to reprioritize and rethink what matters" as far as meeting customer needs, as well as reworking internal culture to "work together as a team."
"This is not work that's going to take one or two months, you know, we're going to make progress, meaningful progress every month, but this will take many months, and I'm quite confident that we will be misunderstood and we will be underrated," Jassy said.
Jassy had previously said the company needed to be "inventive, resourceful, and scrappy," amid layoffs of 18,000 employees, the largest in company history.
Amazon recently posted its least profitable fourth quarter ever (the holiday season) as The Verge noted – even though total sales were still up year-over-year.
In the audio, Jassy also discussed his passion for the investments the company was making from grocery to streaming to autonomous vehicles, among others. Further, he said "a very uncertain economic environment" led to hard times for the company, as well as its pandemic hiring binge.
"I know that this is and feels like a really difficult time," he told employees.
He gave them three main areas to work on for the company's next phase: focus, obsession with customers, and acting like an owner.
By focus, Jassy meant that without spending time on hiring, people will be able to "be more productive." He encouraged them to double down on customer needs, and think less like an employee of a company and more like the owner of a business.
Thinking like an owner also relates to attempting to cut costs, being "speedy and insurgent" and collaborating with teammates, he added.
