Rumor has it that Jeff Bezos will return as CEO after Amazon laid off 18,000 employees

Some Amazon employees are calling for the return of founder Jeff Bezos as CEO amid mass layoffs and plunging stock prices.

On January 5, a day after current Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the layoffs of more than 18,000 jobs, Amazon employees expressed disappointment on the company’s internal channels. According to Business Insider, in a chat group of about 26,000 members, many people said they wanted Bezos back to solve many of the company’s problems.

“Bezos should come back because he’s the best,” said one employee, receiving support from many people. Another responded with a picture of Bezos with the caption “Return of the King”.

Meanwhile, another was blunt: “It’s not surprising that there are rumors that Bezos will return. I don’t understand what Jassy is doing for the company anymore.”

Some Amazon employees were particularly upset with the way Jassy announced the mass layoffs. According to some sources, even some of the company’s vice presidents and directors were unaware of the specific layoff plans.

In an email Jassy sent across the company over Thanksgiving last year, the CEO acknowledged the challenges the company faced, thanked Amazon employees and called for resilience and optimism.

“There has been so much turmoil in the last three years around the world and we are really no exception,” he wrote. That makes it easy for anxiety to overwhelm all optimism.”

Of course, Amazon isn’t the only tech giant with mass layoffs. Before that, Meta, Google, Twitter and many other large companies have cut from thousands to tens of thousands of employees.

However, this cut of Amazon is the largest among US technology firms in recent times. The main reason comes from the not so bright business results last year. According to statistics, the total number of job cuts in the US technology industry last year reached more than 150,000 people.

At this time, an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on whether Bezos will return or whether Jassy has the backing of the board and company.

“We increasingly communicate our important news as a company through our internal employee pages (Inside Amazon) and external news pages,” the person wrote in a statement. related to Amazon (About Amazon). Much of the feedback we’ve received has been as positive as possible with such tough news. With 1.5 million employees, we always get a variety of feedback, and if we think there’s something to learn from that feedback, even if it’s minority feedback, we’ll make adjustments. Future”.

Not only Amazon employees, Michael Batnick – research director of Ritholtz Wealth Management, recently also predicted that Bezos will return as CEO of the company this year.

The speculation and hopes of Bezos returning to the helm of Amazon employees come at a crucial time for the company. After the New York Times reported that Amazon cut about 10,000 jobs in November 2022, on January 4, 2023, Jassy announced the company had decided to cut more than 18,000 jobs this year to save costs. . Amazon’s pandemic-induced growth has slowed dramatically, and its stock price has fallen about 50% in the past, wiping out almost all of its profits during the pandemic.

In fact, it is not uncommon for former CEOs to return, especially when they are the founder or long-time leader of the company. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger returned to run the company a few weeks ago after a two-year absence. Howard Schultz of Starbucks also returned as interim CEO last year.

As for Amazon, when Bezos stepped down as CEO in 2021, he moved into the role of executive chairman. Since he is also involved in some company activities, many people have expressed their hope that he will return as CEO.

Jassy has been grappling with unrest inside Amazon for the past few months. Several current employees complained last year about issues including a stagnant culture and over-added layers of management. They think the “Monday” culture is finally here.

Before that, when Bezos founded and ran Amazon, he always required everyone to have a “Day One” mindset: No matter how old the company is, the company should remain entrepreneurial, act fast and take risks.

On the other hand, not all Amazon employees are critical of Jassy. One person wrote: “Don’t forget that many of the decisions that led the company to the point of laying off 18,000 people were Bezos’s.” This person was referring to Bezos’ policy of excessively expanding Amazon before Jassy was appointed CEO.

Source: BI