Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2025

Leaked documents reveal Amazon managers’ process to review employees' worth to the company and pay

Leaked documents reveal Amazon managers’ process to review employees' worth to the company and pay

A leaked trove of documents highlighting what metrics managers at Amazon prioritize to evaluate performance and changes in compensation might shed light on the company’s controversial performance review process.

Internal manuals show that Amazon managers are instructed to gauge employees based on two key factors, Insider reported this week after viewing the documents.

Amazon bosses combine two main metrics in determining an employee’s final review, or their “overall value” to the company: their performance score and the potential they have exhibited.

The process is known as Forte, and is highly relevant to Amazon employees, as their “overall value” is what ultimately determines any change in compensation they receive after the review.

Amazon did not reply to Fortune’s request for comment on the review process.

Determining an Amazon employee’s ‘overall value’


First, Amazon managers are instructed to determine how employees have held up the company’s principles, and how this reflects their particular strengths. This is done in a number of ways, including their accomplishments, feedback from colleagues, and, for the first time, self-evaluations.

Self-evaluations, and an assessment of an employee’s own accomplishments relative to their objectives, were introduced earlier this year after employees complained about managers having too much influence in the review process.

These qualities are then used to measure against an employee’s accomplishments, and how they achieved them. This rating is used to decide the employee’s performance score, which combines evaluations of what their accomplishments have been and the manner in which they reached them.

This performance result is ranked on a scale from one to seven, then combined with an evaluation of an employee’s potential—ranked on a scale from one to four—to finalize a review in a score defining the worker’s worth to the company, or “overall value.”

An employee’s performance score can be low if he or she demonstrates “questionable judgment,” creates “overly complex or simplistic solutions” to problems, does not “share knowledge” and is “dismissing other viewpoints,” or “argues too much and does not speak up enough.”

Factors that can boost an employee’s score include being reactive to customer needs, acting as a mentor, providing new ideas in discussions, and exhibiting a strong and adaptable work ethic.

Amazon’s controversial review record


Amazon’s new performance review instructions manual came out after the last one was received with heaps of controversy.

Last year’s documents, which were also reviewed by Insider, included a tiered ranking metric for employees, who would fall into one of five tiers.

But the process had evidence of a stack ranking system, Insider reported, which required a “certain percentage” of employees to rank in each tier, sometimes forcing evaluators to give adequate employees lower scores to place them in a tier that had not yet filled its quota, which could change their compensation changes, an Amazon employee told Insider.

Unlike last year’s document, the latest manual did not include any required quotas for separate tiers. In statements to reporters last year, Amazon denied using a stack ranking system.

Amazon’s performance review process also came under fire last year when an investigation by Vox found evidence of racial bias in the company’s hiring and promotion practices, as well as its review and rating systems.

Later in the year, Amazon released a statement promising it would be investigating any “statistically significant demographic differences” in both its performance rating system and the company’s attrition rate.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Unveils Middle East Reset: Syria Re-engaged, Saudi Ties Amplified
Saudi Arabia to Build Future Cities Designed with Tourists in Mind, Says Tourism Minister
Saudi Arabia Advances Regulated Stablecoin Plans with Global Crypto Exchange Support
Saudi Arabia Maintains Palestinian State Condition Ahead of Possible Israel Ties
Chinese Steel Exports Surge 41% to Saudi Arabia as Mills Pivot Amid Global Trade Curbs
Saudi Arabia’s Biban Forum 2025 Secures Over US$10 Billion in Deals Amid Global SME Drive
Saudi Arabia Sets Pre-Conditions for Israel Normalisation Ahead of Trump Visit
MrBeast’s ‘Beast Land’ Arrives in Riyadh as Part of Riyadh Season 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo Asserts Saudi Pro League Outperforms Ligue 1 Amid Scoring Feats
AI Researchers Claim Human-Level General Intelligence Is Already Here
Saudi Arabia Pauses Major Stretch of ‘The Line’ Megacity Amid Budget Re-Prioritisation
Saudi Arabia Launches Instant e-Visa Platform for Over 60 Countries
Dick Cheney, Former U.S. Vice President, Dies at 84
Saudi Crown Prince to Visit Trump at White House on November Eighteenth
Trump Predicts Saudi Arabia Will Normalise with Israel Ahead of 18 November Riyadh Visit
Entrepreneurial Momentum in Saudi Arabia Shines at Riyadh Forward 2025 Summit
Saudi Arabia to Host First-Ever International WrestleMania in 2027
Saudi Arabia to Host New ATP Masters Tournament from 2028
Trump Doubts Saudi Demand for Palestinian State Before Israel Normalisation
Viral ‘Sky Stadium’ for Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup Debunked as AI-Generated
Deal Between Saudi Arabia and Israel ‘Virtually Impossible’ This Year, Kingdom Insider Says
Saudi Crown Prince to Visit Washington While Israel Recognition Remains Off-Table
Saudi Arabia Leverages Ultra-Low Power Costs to Drive AI Infrastructure Ambitions
Saudi Arabia Poised to Channel Billions into Syria’s Reconstruction as U.S. Sanctions Linger
Smotrich’s ‘Camels’ Remark Tests Saudi–Israel Normalisation Efforts
Saudi Arabia and Qatar Gain Structural Edge in Asian World Cup Qualification
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
Fincantieri and Saudi Arabia Agree to Build Advanced Maritime Ecosystem in Kingdom
Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN Accelerates AI Ambitions Through Major Partnerships and Infrastructure Push
IOC and Saudi Arabia End Ambitious 12-Year Esports Games Partnership
CSL Seqirus Signs Saudi Arabia Pact to Provide Cell-Based Flu Vaccines and Build Local Production
Qualcomm and Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN Team Up to Deploy 200 MW AI Infrastructure
Saudi Arabia’s Economy Expands Five Percent in Third Quarter Amid Oil Output Surge
China’s Vice President Han Zheng Meets Saudi Crown Prince as Trade Concerns Loom
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
×