00:00When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, he set the company up for success with a distinct culture
00:05that eventually included 16 leadership principles. And employees are judged on these tenets before
00:10they're even hired in job interviews, with goals to hire the best and have a backbone,
00:16disagree, and commit. Amazon employees have abided by these guidelines for more than 20 years.
00:21But workers think those standards began unraveling during a pre-pandemic hiring spree under Bezos
00:26and have continued inside Amazon during CEO Andy Jassy's leadership. Complaints include
00:32adding principles as a marketing ploy, weaponizing leadership rules to criticize,
00:36and bosses being accused of employing principles to build up favorites.
00:40Fortune spoke to two dozen current and recently departed Amazon executives
00:45and managers about how the famous Amazon way is showing signs of deteriorating.
00:50Many said the key principles remain core, but have become less universally agreed upon.
00:55You can check out the full story in Fortune's latest digital issue.
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