Amazon Tightens Employee Phone Usage Rules Amid Cost-Cutting — Details Here

Amazon is asking staff to account for how much of their work phones are actually used for work, in a move that employees say reflects the company’s growing culture of micromanagement.

According to a Business Insider report, some Amazon Web Services (AWS) employees must now break down their mobile usage between business and personal activity.

The company then adjusts the $50 (around Rs 4,400) monthly phone reimbursement in line with the proportion of non-work use, cutting dollar-for-dollar when the line blurs into personal time.

The policy is part of CEO Andy Jassy's broader cost-cutting agenda, which has seen management layers reduced and worker-to-manager ratios increased by 15% in the past year. Business Insider reported that in retail divisions, employees are also being asked to justify business trips in advance by outlining expected goals and projected returns.

Even expense claims must now be broken down in detail, including itemising meals. Jassy’s approach has unsettled staff. Many employees told Business Insider they fear for their job security, especially after Jassy recently predicted that efficiency gains driven by artificial intelligence would eventually mean fewer white-collar jobs.

"It's just really hard for people to show up at work and be all-in knowing tomorrow might be the last day at work," an Amazon employee told Business Insider.

The focus on frugality is being reinforced at every level. At staff meetings, executives repeatedly stress the importance of cost control.

“We want owners. What would I do if this was my money?” Jassy told employees at a company gathering earlier this year, according to a record obtained by Business Insider.

Employees, however, say the measures risk tipping into micromanagement. Junior leaders told Business Insider that significant decisions are increasingly centralised among a small circle of top executives, leaving them sidelined.

Last year, several vice presidents said they learned of Jassy's five-day return-to-office mandate and middle management cuts not through internal channels but through press reports. Amazon defended the changes.

A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the company's culture has always been "performance-driven and fast-paced" and that it is "getting back to our roots." Under Jassy, Amazon has aligned itself with a broader trend in corporate America. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all raised performance expectations, though, as Business Insider noted, their return-to-office rules remain less stringent than Amazon’s.