Amazon Web Services marketing chief Julia White reportedly encouraged its employees to recruit recently laid off Meta staff. According to a report by Business Insider, the AWS Chief Marketing Officer stated that the company is understaffed and is seeking to fill vacant roles. During an internal team meeting late last month, Julia White was asked about employee turnover in the company and whether the firm was evaluating compensation adjustments to boost retention. In response, White said that hiring was the larger challenge, noting that AWS's marketing division had around 160 open positions at the time. "That's a lot," she said.
"If you have friends and family or former colleagues or I know Meta just laid off 8,000 people any of those talented people you know, reach out to them," Julia White said. "We have openings and we need top talent here," she added.
BI says it reviewed a recording of the meeting.
AWS marketing chief says recruitment remains a challenge According to the report, Julia White said employee exits within AWS's marketing organization remain
higher than she would prefer, although the situation has begun to improve. "It's a competitive market," she said. "Our skilled people are in strong demand."
The AWS marketing chief said compensation is one factor raised by employees who leave the company. However,
she noted that it is not the primary reason behind departures.
"Compensation is one of the factors, but it's not the leading one," White said.
She added that employees also depart for reasons such as career advancement opportunities, lifestyle preferences and other personal factors. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company routinely reviews its compensation framework to remain competitive.
"We're focused on hiring and developing the best talent at AWS and across Amazon's broad range of businesses," the spokesperson said.
AWS aims to strengthen collaboration
The report also said AWS recently experienced leadership changes and a restructuring within its marketing division.
During the staff meeting, Julia White reportedly said the organization is working to move away from what she described as a "highly siloed operating model" and become more collaborative. The changes have created certain challenges as teams adapt to new ways of working together, she said. "We have too many handoffs and not enough handshakes," White said. "We're in that refinement phase of making sure it's effective," she added.