Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is flattening the company’s hierarchy by cutting out middle-managers and shifting power to individual employees while reinforcing his return-to-office (RTO) mandate.

His decision comes amid middle managers increasingly becoming burdened with added responsibilities, slowing decision-making and stretching teams thin as corporate layoffs ripple across American industries.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Jassy highlighted the inefficiencies caused by excessive layers of management. “You add a lot of people, and you end up with a lot of middle managers. And those middle managers, all well-intended, want to put their fingerprint on everything,” he said.

His criticism extends to Amazon’s internal processes, where multiple rounds of meetings dilute ownership and slow down decision-making. “You end up with people being in the pre-meeting, for the pre-meeting, for the pre-meeting, for the decision meeting, and not always making recommendations and owning things the way we want,” Jassy explained.

This isn’t the first time Jassy has spoken about restructuring Amazon’s workforce. Last September, he set a goal to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by Q1 2025.

Now, he has revealed that Amazon has already surpassed this target ahead of schedule. According to Jassy, this shift will enhance employee ownership, streamline processes, and allow faster decision-making.

With fewer layers of management, employees will be expected to take greater responsibility for their work and foster collaboration without excessive oversight.

“For the people that are doing the work, they’re gonna have more ownership and they’re going to be able to move more quickly,” Jassy said.

While empowering employees, Jassy is also firm on his stance regarding workplace culture—Amazon’s five-day return-to-office (RTO) mandate remains strict. As Amazon reshapes its workforce dynamics, the emphasis is clear: fewer bosses, more accountability, and a renewed focus on productivity.