Amazon’s ‘What You Did Last Year’ Email Sparks Panic: Is Your Job at Risk?

Amazon HR email to staff: ‘What you did last year’; asked to list specific wins and growth plans

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The Email That Sent Shockwaves Through Amazon

The subject line was deceptively simple: “What you did last year.” But for thousands of Amazon corporate employees, this HR email was a gut punch. Gone are the days of vague self-assessments and fluffy summaries of team contributions. In their place is a direct, almost confrontational demand: list your three to five key, measurable accomplishments from the past year .

This isn’t just a routine check-in; it’s the rollout of Amazon’s new, hyper-focused Amazon performance review system, codenamed “Forte.” The message is clear: if you can’t point to a specific, tangible win that moved the needle for the company, your value is in question. This move has instantly created a climate of anxiety and intense self-auditing across the company’s white-collar workforce.

Inside the New Amazon Performance Review: The Forte System

The Forte system represents a significant philosophical shift from Amazon’s previous review processes. It’s designed to be brutally objective and results-oriented. Here’s what makes it different:

  • Specificity Over Generality: Employees can no longer claim they “supported a major project.” They must detail their exact role, the problem they solved, and the quantifiable outcome (e.g., “Reduced server costs by 15% through X optimization”).
  • Celebrating Calculated Risks (Even Failed Ones): In a surprising twist, the guidelines encourage employees to highlight ambitious projects that didn’t pan out, as long as they were well-reasoned and provided valuable learning. This aims to foster innovation without punishing failure, a core tenet of Amazon’s leadership principles .
  • Focus on Customer Impact: Every listed accomplishment must tie back to a direct or indirect benefit for the customer, reinforcing the company’s primary obsession.

This level of granularity is intended to create a more accurate and fair assessment of an employee’s true contribution, moving away from subjective peer reviews that can be influenced by office politics.

Why Amazon Is Raising the Stakes on Accountability

This aggressive new approach doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a direct response to the post-pandemic reality of the tech industry. After years of explosive, almost unchecked growth and hiring, the sector has entered an era of cost-cutting, efficiency drives, and heightened investor scrutiny .

CEO Andy Jassy has been vocal about the need for a “Day 1” mentality—a constant state of urgency and frugality—even as the company has grown into a behemoth. The Forte system is a tool to enforce this culture. By forcing every employee to justify their existence with hard data, Amazon can more easily identify top performers for promotion and, conversely, pinpoint roles that may be redundant or underperforming. In essence, it’s a pre-emptive measure to maintain a lean, high-performing organization in a more competitive market.

How to Survive (and Thrive) in the New Review Culture

For Amazon employees, the Forte review isn’t just a formality; it’s a career-defining exercise. Here are some practical strategies to navigate it successfully:

  1. Start Documenting Now: Don’t wait for the review cycle. Keep a running log of your projects, decisions, and their outcomes throughout the year.
  2. Quantify Everything: Translate your work into numbers. Did you save time? How much? Did you increase revenue or reduce costs? By what percentage?
  3. Align with Leadership Principles: Frame your accomplishments within the context of Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles. Show how your work embodies concepts like “Invent and Simplify” or “Dive Deep” [[INTERNAL_LINK:amazon-leadership-principles-guide]].
  4. Be Honest About Failures: If you took a smart risk that failed, explain the hypothesis, the learnings, and how those learnings are being applied elsewhere.

A Broader Silicon Valley Trend Towards Discipline

Amazon is not alone in this pivot. Across Silicon Valley, the free-spending, “move fast and break things” ethos of the 2010s is being replaced by a more disciplined, ROI-focused mindset. Companies like Meta and Google have also implemented stricter performance management systems and conducted large-scale layoffs to streamline operations .

This trend reflects a maturing tech industry that is now being held to the same financial and operational standards as any other major corporation. The era of easy money and guaranteed job security in tech is over, and the Forte system is Amazon’s way of ensuring its workforce adapts to this new, more demanding reality.

Conclusion: The End of the Honeymoon Era in Tech?

The “What you did last year” email is more than just a new HR policy; it’s a cultural reset button for Amazon. The new Amazon performance review system, Forte, is a stark declaration that every employee must prove their worth with concrete evidence of impact. While this may create short-term stress, its long-term goal is to build a more resilient, innovative, and accountable company. For the rest of the tech world, Amazon’s move is a clear signal: the party is over, and it’s time to get serious about delivering real value.

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