Amazon appears to be facing hurdles in hiring top artificial intelligence (AI) engineers, at a time when its rivals are aggressively expanding their teams. A leaked internal memo seen by Business Insider suggested that the company’s compensation model, strict work rules, and a weaker image in the AI space are making it harder to bring in highly skilled professionals.
The document, prepared by Amazon’s human resources team for divisions such as AWS, advertising, devices, entertainment, and its artificial general intelligence unit, pointed out that engineers often see the company’s offers as less attractive compared to competitors. It specifically mentioned that location, pay, and Amazon’s late push in generative AI have become roadblocks in attracting the best minds.
Business Insider, which accessed the document, reported that competitors like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are offering bigger and more flexible deals. Meta has even managed to hire experienced names from companies such as Apple, ScaleAI, and OpenAI in recent months, while Microsoft is said to have drawn up a target list of AI specialists it wants to recruit. Amazon, by contrast, has not announced any major AI hires lately, reinforcing the perception that it is lagging.
Reacting to the report, an Amazon spokesperson initially said the company continues to adjust its approach to remain competitive, with flexibility in both pay and work arrangements. Later, the spokesperson issued a stronger rebuttal, saying the “premise of the story was wrong.” The updated statement added that Amazon is attracting some of the best talent in the world and that many of them are already building generative AI tools at speed. “Our compensation is competitive, but we also want missionaries who are passionate about inventing things that will make a meaningful difference for customers — for those kinds of people, there’s no better place in the world to build,” the statement read.
The memo, however, showed that compensation remains a “hotly debated” topic inside the company. Amazon follows strict salary bands for different roles, and this limits the ability of recruiters to make competitive offers. The backloaded stock structure, which gives larger benefits in later years rather than upfront, also makes its packages less appealing for new hires compared to rivals who pay more cash incentives. Former Amazon executives have pointed out that this approach has cost the company senior talent in the past, with some choosing to leave after pay negotiations failed.
Amazon’s famously frugal culture, which dates back to founder Jeff Bezos using makeshift office desks from cheap wooden doors, has worked well in many areas of its business. But in today’s AI race, where competitors are willing to spend heavily, the same philosophy is proving to be a disadvantage.
The internal memo outlined possible steps to improve the situation. These include revising compensation policies, giving more flexibility in hiring locations, setting up specialist recruitment teams within AWS and other divisions, and organising events to showcase the company’s progress in generative AI. Whether these changes will be enough to keep Amazon in the race for AI talent remains uncertain, but with competition heating up, the company is under pressure to act quickly.
