AWS Marketing Head Urges Hiring, Especially From Meta

Amazon Web Services marketing head Julia White reportedly asked its employees to hire recently laid off Meta workers. According to a report by Business Insider, the AWS Chief Marketing Officer said that the organisation is understaffed and is looking to fill open roles.

During an internal staff meeting late last month, Julia White was asked about attrition in the company and whether the company was considering compensation changes to improve retention. Responding back, White said that hiring was the bigger challenge, adding that AWS's marketing unit had roughly 160 open positions at the time. "That's a lot," she said. "If you have friends and family or colleagues or I know Meta just laid off 8,000 people any of those great people you know, ping them," Julia White said. "We have jobs and we need top talent here," she added. BI claims to have reviewed a recording of the meeting.

AWS marketing head says hiring remains a challenge

According to the report, Julia White said employee departures within AWS's marketing organization remain higher than she would like, although the situation has started to improve. "It's a hot market," she said. "Our talented people are in high demand." The AWS marketing head said compensation is one issue raised by employees who leave the company. However, she noted that it is not the main reason behind departures. "Compensation is one of the things, but it's not the top one," White said. She added that employees also leave for reasons such as career growth opportunities, lifestyle choices and other personal considerations. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company regularly reviews its compensation structure to remain competitive. "We're focused on hiring and developing the best talent at AWS and across Amazon's range of businesses," the spokesperson said.

AWS looks to improve collaboration

The report also said AWS recently underwent leadership changes and a reorganization 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 "deeply siloed operating model" and become more collaborative. The changes have created some challenges as teams adjust to new ways of working together, she said. "We have too many handoffs and not enough handshakes," White said. "We're in that refinement curve of making sure it's efficient," she added.