Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
05/23/2025
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The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
November 16, 2022: The New York Times stated that Amazon plans to lay off almost 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles starting this week. Separately, The Wall Street Journal cited a source stating the firm is looking to lay off thousands of employees. Shares of Amazon closed down almost 2% on Monday.
According to the report, the cuts would be significant in the company’s history and primarily affect Amazon’s devices organization, retail division and human resources. The reported layoffs would represent below 1% of Amazon’s workforce and 3% of its corporate workers.
The report follows the headcount reductions at different tech firms. Meta announced in the previous week that it is laying off over 13% of its staff, or over 11,000 employees, and Twitter laid off almost half its workforce in the days after Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the firm.
Amazon stated 798,000 employees in 2019 but had 1.6 million full-time and part-time employees as of December 31, 2021, a 102% increase. The New York Times has stated the total number of layoffs “remains fluid” and could transform.
The holiday shopping time is critical for Amazon and one where the firm has increased its headcount to meet demand. But Andy Jassy, who became the CEO in July 2021, is in cost-cutting mode to save cash as the company has faced slowing sales and a negative global economy.
The company has announced plans to freeze the can-hire for corporate roles in its retail business. In latest months, Amazon has been shutting down its telehealth service, which did not continue a quirky video-calling projector for kids, which closed all but one of its U.S. call centres, axed its roving delivery robot, underperforming brick-and-mortar chains, and is closing, cancelling or delaying some new warehouse locations.
Amazon reported not up-to-the-mark third-quarter revenue in October that spooked investors and made the shares sink over 13%. It marked the initial Amazon’s market cap decreased below $1 trillion since April 2020. The report was the second time Amazon’s results have been okay to spark a double-digit percentage sell-off. The sell-off continued for days after the announcement and erased nearly all of the stock’s pandemic surge.
Amazon stock is decreasing about 41% for the year, over the 14% decrease in the S&P 500, and is on speed for its worst year since 2008.
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
Loud leaders once ruled the boardroom. Charisma was currency. Big talk drove big valuations.
But the CEOs who make history in downturns aren’t the ones with the deepest cuts
Companies invest millions in leadership development, yet many of their best executives leave within a few years. Why?
The most successful business leaders don’t just identify gaps in the market; they anticipate future needs before anyone else.
With technological advancements, shifting consumer expectations, and global interconnectedness, the role of business leaders
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