Amazon's new policy: Employees must justify phone bill expenses
Amazon is shaking things up at AWS with a new policy—employees now have to explain how much of their $50 monthly phone allowance is actually for work, not personal stuff.
This move is part of CEO Andy Jassy's push since 2021 to bring back a tougher, more disciplined office vibe.
Amazon's strict policies are impacting its ability to attract talent
Over the past year, Amazon has made hundreds of structural tweaks, like cutting management layers and asking corporate staff to return to the office five days a week.
Raises now reward steady top performance over four years, but these strict policies are making it harder for Amazon to attract new talent.
To tackle red tape, Jassy set up a "bureaucracy mailbox" so employees can flag issues—leadership says managers who don't meet higher expectations may need to move on.