Overview

• The new system embeds all 16 Leadership Principles alongside streamlined performance and potential scales in midyear evaluations for corporate employees.
• An Overall Value score now dictates salary increases, promotions and whether staff enter performance improvement plans.
• Fixed stack-ranking quotas cap the top “role model” grade at 5% and mandate set distributions across five performance tiers.
• The appraisal overhaul builds on CEO Andy Jassy’s wider push for cultural discipline via return-to-office mandates, management cuts and revised pay models.
• Workers have raised concerns about opacity and potential misuse even as Amazon joins Microsoft, Google and Meta in tightening performance reviews.