Andy Jassy, who became Amazon’s CEO last year, has released his first annual letter to shareholders, which acts as a recap of how the company did in 2021 and outlines its goals for the future. The letter starts by extolling Amazon Web Services’ role in helping businesses during the pandemic — familiar subject matter for Jassy, whose previous role was as CEO of AWS. The letter also discusses familiar subjects like supply chain disruption, labor shortages, and Amazon’s focus on getting out more Prime packages faster.
Labor is a hot-button topic for Amazon right now. Beyond the difficulty of getting new employees, Jassy does address reports that the company has significantly higher injury rates than the industry average for warehouse workers by saying that it’s working to systematically solve “the top 100 employee experience pain points.” But Jassy is silent on the topic of labor organization. Amazon is currently in the middle of two disputed unionization elections, one in Bessemer, Alabama (where the union objected to Amazon’s actions against campaigners), the other in Staten Island, New York (where Amazon objected following the union’s historic win). Another union election is slated to start at its LDJ5 facility on April 25th.
You can read the full shareholder letter here. It’s lengthy, and how much value you get from it will depend on how interested you are in Amazon’s business, but it could provide some insight into the tone Jassy is trying to set for his tenure at Amazon. If you’re interested in learning more about him, we have a great writeup on his history with the company, which you can read here.
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