MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS
Amazon is on a mission to cut red tape. The company’s grocery boss is going full beans on this goal.
During an internal staff meeting for Amazon’s grocery business last week, an employee pressed leadership on how the company plans to speed things up, saying “multiple levels of approval” was slowing down decision-making, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Business Insider.
Amazon’s VP of Worldwide Grocery Jason Buechel, who’s also the CEO of Whole Foods, pounced on the question.
He described certain aspects of the grocery business’s internal bureaucracy as “ridiculous” and blamed this for bogging down the business.
Amazon has identified several slow-moving procedures, such as spending and transaction policies, and is streamlining them to reduce time wasted on “administrative details,” he added.
“The feedback I’ve gotten from team members and employees is that ultimately, we’re wasting time,” Buechel said. “It’s taking too long for decisions and approvals to take place, and it’s actually holding back some of our initiatives.”
“One Grocery”
Amazon recently overhauled its grocery leadership team and pulled Whole Foods closer into the fold. Since taking over Amazon’s entire grocery business earlier this year, Buechel has prioritized integrating teams from Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go through an initiative called “One Grocery.”
Eliminating bureaucracy has become a central mandate at Amazon, with CEO Andy Jassy emphasizing the need to remove inefficient processes. Over the past year, the company has trimmed management layers and encouraged employees to flag rules that slow things down.
An Amazon spokesperson told BI that Buechel was highlighting the different spending and transaction policies between Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods as an example of where the team is working to “simplify administrative processes.” The company is “more optimistic than ever” about grocery, the spokesperson added.
‘Overlapping work’
The restructuring is leading to job cuts, too. Amazon laid off at least 125 employees in its Fresh grocery division, according to a public notice earlier this week.
The Amazon spokesperson told BI that the job cuts were the result of a Fresh grocery store closure in the Seattle area, adding that affected employees have been given the opportunity to transfer to positions at nearby locations.
During last week’s meeting, Buechel said identifying “overlapping work” across the grocery business is a top priority for the year. He added that this month’s restructuring, which brought Whole Foods corporate staff under Amazon programs for pay and performance, aims to create a more “consistent experience” across grocery teams.
Concerns over bureaucracy in Amazon’s grocery division aren’t new. In 2021, company leaders had to respond to criticism over the grocery business’s underperformance and deteriorating workplace culture, BI previously reported.
Since then, Amazon’s grocery division has seen major changes, including a wave of new leadership. Buechel’s predecessor, Tony Hoggett, left his role after 3 years. Amazon has downsized its cashierless Just Walk Out technology business and slowed the expansion of Fresh grocery stores.
Buechel said at last week’s meeting that he couldn’t address every question because plans are still being ironed out. He also noted the grocery team faces “a lot of work ahead” and hinted that some resources will “pivot” to other areas.
One area Buechel is keeping a close eye on: the competition. He said he visits rival stores weekly to stay inspired and monitor industry shifts.
“I am a grocery geek,” Buechel said. “I love going into our stores, but I love going into competition.”
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