Amazon.com 2013 Annual Report Download - page 5

Veteran Hiring
We seek leaders who can invent, think big, have a bias for action, and deliver results on behalf of customers.
These principles look familiar to men and women who’ve served our country in the armed forces, and we find
that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment. We’re a member of
Joining Forces and the 100,000 Jobs Mission – two national efforts that encourage businesses to offer service
members and their families career opportunities and support. Our Military Talent team attended more than 50
recruiting events last year to help veterans find job opportunities at Amazon. In 2013, we hired more than 1,900
veterans. And once veterans join our team, we offer several programs that help them transition more easily into
the civilian workforce and that connect them with our internal network of veterans for mentoring and support.
These programs have earned us recognition as a top employer by G.I. Jobs Magazine, U.S. Veterans Magazine,
and Military Spouse Magazine, and we’ll continue to invest in military veteran hiring as we grow.
Fulfillment Innovation
Nineteen years ago, I drove the Amazon packages to the post office every evening in the back of my Chevy
Blazer. My vision extended so far that I dreamed we might one day get a forklift. Fast-forward to today and we
have 96 fulfillment centers and are on our 7th generation of fulfillment center design. Our operations team is
extraordinary – methodical and ingenious. Through our Kaizen program, named for the Japanese term “change
for the better,” employees work in small teams to streamline processes and reduce defects and waste. Our Earth
Kaizens set energy reduction, recycling, and other green goals. In 2013, more than 4,700 associates participated
in 1,100 Kaizens.
Sophisticated software is key in our FCs. This year, we rolled out 280 major software improvements across
the FC network. Our goal is to continue to iterate and improve on the design, layout, technology, and operations
in these buildings, ensuring that each new facility we build is better than the last. I invite you to come see one for
yourself. We offer fulfillment center tours open to the public, ages six and above. You can find info on the
available tours at www.amazon.com/fctours. I’m always amazed when I visit one of our FCs, and I hope you’ll
arrange a tour. I think you’ll be impressed.
Urban Campus
In 2013, we added 420,000 square feet of new headquarters space in Seattle and broke ground on what will
become four city blocks and several million square feet of new construction. It is a fact that we could have saved
money by instead building in the suburbs, but for us, it was important to stay in the city. Urban campuses are
much greener. Our employees are able to take advantage of existing communities and public transit
infrastructure, with less dependence on cars. We’re investing in dedicated bike lanes to provide safe, pollution-
free, easy access to our offices. Many of our employees can live nearby, skip the commute altogether, and walk
to work. Though I can’t prove it, I also believe an urban headquarters will help keep Amazon vibrant, attract the
right talent, and be great for the health and wellbeing of our employees and the city of Seattle.
Fast Delivery
In partnership with the United States Postal Service, we’ve begun for the first time to offer Sunday delivery
to select cities. Sunday delivery is a win for Amazon customers, and we plan to roll it out to a large portion of the
U.S. population throughout 2014. We’ve created our own fast, last-mile delivery networks in the UK where
commercial carriers couldn’t support our peak volumes. In India and China, where delivery infrastructure isn’t
yet mature, you can see Amazon bike couriers delivering packages throughout the major cities. And there is more
invention to come. The Prime Air team is already flight testing our 5th and 6th generation aerial vehicles, and we
are in the design phase on generations 7 and 8.
Experiments and More Experiments
We have our own internal experimentation platform called “Weblab” that we use to evaluate improvements
to our websites and products. In 2013, we ran 1,976 Weblabs worldwide, up from 1,092 in 2012, and 546 in
2011. One recent success is our new feature called “Ask an owner”. It was many years ago that we pioneered the