Surviving as an Amazon employee these days requires more than just working hard. Workers must now prove their value through numbers—how well they use artificial intelligence and how long they stay in the office.
Amazon, which has overtaken Walmart to become the world's largest company by revenue, is becoming a testing ground for simultaneously pushing efficiency and innovation.
AI Usage Reflected in Performance Reviews
Amazon is tracking employees' AI tool usage through an internal system called "Clarity," according to U.S. technology news outlet The Information on Monday (local time). Managers can monitor which AI tools employees use and how much they utilize the company's internally developed AI model "Kiro."
More notably, this data is not merely for reference—it factors into performance reviews and promotion evaluations. Performance criteria for supply chain optimization technology team employees include questions such as "How did you improve customer experience using AI?" and "How did you increase operational efficiency?" Managers are asked questions including "Did you achieve more results with fewer resources?" and "What examples show you expanded capabilities through AI without headcount changes?"
These criteria, initially applied only to mid-level management promotions, were expanded to all promotion candidates starting July last year. The company explained it is restructuring its evaluation system to focus on impact, efficiency, and execution rather than organizational size.
An Amazon spokesperson said this is "to drive innovation by understanding how employees adopt new technologies." However, employees reportedly feel pressure that "falling behind on AI means falling behind," especially amid ongoing restructuring.
Office Hours Also Tracked as Data
AI capabilities are not the only thing being monitored. Since last year, Amazon has strengthened its Return to Office (RTO) policy and introduced a manager dashboard. RTO policies mandate office attendance, scaling back remote and hybrid work arrangements that expanded during the pandemic. The system aggregates employee attendance frequency, time spent in the office, and building locations in eight-week increments.
The system classifies employees into three categories. Those averaging less than four hours of daily office time over the past eight weeks are labeled "Low-Time Badgers." Those with no building access records during that period are classified as "Zero Badgers." Employees who access buildings other than their assigned workplace more than half the time are categorized as "Unassigned Building Badgers" for separate monitoring.
The company explained this is "to promote in-person collaboration," but some employees say they feel "managed like high school students."
30,000 Jobs Cut in Three Months Amid AI Investment Push
This intensified monitoring coincided with massive layoffs. Amazon cut 14,000 jobs in October last year, followed by an additional 16,000 earlier this year. The cumulative reduction over the past three months totals approximately 30,000—the largest in the company's 30-year history.
The company described it as "organizational restructuring to reduce bureaucracy and strengthen accountability." However, employees are reacting sensitively as the layoff timing overlaps with expanded AI investment. Some interpret this as a trend toward leaner workforce structures as AI boosts efficiency.
Industry-Wide Trend: Samsung Also Adopts Similar Measures
These changes are spreading across the industry. Microsoft, Meta, and Accenture also encourage AI usage among employees, with some incorporating related metrics into performance evaluations.
Attendance monitoring follows a similar pattern. Samsung Electronics has introduced "building presence days and hours" metrics for managers. Dell stated it can track on-site work through badge records and reflect this in performance and compensation. Bank of America, JPMorgan, and UK-based PwC also use attendance data as management metrics.
Tech companies are simultaneously championing "AI innovation" while moving toward structures that measure "performance and efficiency" more granularly.
World's Top Revenue Company at This Pivotal Moment
Despite all these changes, Amazon is enjoying its peak externally. According to disclosures released Monday, Amazon recorded annual revenue of $716.9 billion last year, surpassing Walmart to become the world's top company by revenue. This milestone comes 32 years after the company started as an online bookstore in a garage in 1994.
However, many analysts note this achievement stems less from winning traditional retail competition than from growth in technology segments including cloud business Amazon Web Services (AWS). Some describe it as "a hollow victory."
