Amazon has struggled to recruit top AI talent due to its unique pay structure, perceived lag in AI work, and strict return-to-office policies. The HR team covering AWS, advertising, devices, entertainment, and the new AGI team identified location, compensation, and reputation as key hiring obstacles and noted competitors offer more comprehensive and aggressive packages. Rival firms such as Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft have attracted high-profile AI hires. Amazon initially said it was adapting compensation and work arrangements, then later updated comments to call the premise wrong while emphasizing attraction and retention of mission-driven AI engineers.
As the AI talent war sweeps across Silicon Valley, Amazon has largely sat on the sidelines. A confidential internal document, and accounts from people familiar with the matter, reveal why. The company has flagged its unique pay structure, lagging AI reputation, and rigid return-to-office rules as major hurdles. Now, the tech giant is being pushed to rethink its recruiting strategy as it scrambles to compete for top talent.
The document, from late last year, was written by the HR team covering Amazon's non-retail businesses, including Amazon Web Services, advertising, devices, entertainment, and the newly formed artificial general intelligence team. "GenAI hiring faces challenges like location, compensation, and Amazon's perceived lag in the space," the document noted. "Competitors often provide more comprehensive and aggressive packages." Business Insider obtained a copy of the document.
Amazon's spokesperson initially told BI that the company continues to "adapt our approach to remain highly competitive, maintaining flexibility in both our compensation packages and work arrangements to attract and retain the best AI talent in this dynamic market." Hours later, the spokesperson updated the statement, saying the premise of the story was "wrong," without providing any specifics. "We continue to attract and retain some of the best people in the world and they're building and deploying GenAI applications at a rapid clip.
Collection
[
|
...
]