Amazon’s decision to cut 15% of its managers likely comes from a closer look at ratios. Were there too many managers with only 2-3 direct reports? T

Ideal Number of Direct Reports

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2024-09-23 10:00:03

Amazon’s decision to cut 15% of its managers likely comes from a closer look at ratios. Were there too many managers with only 2-3 direct reports? That’s entirely possible. From my time at AWS, I didn’t see this much in engineering, so I doubt those teams will feel it as hard. But other departments with too many managers overseeing too few people were probably more bloated. It’s similar to what Meta’s doing in its “Year of Efficiency,” flattening structures and cutting unnecessary roles to make teams leaner and more agile.

It’s likely they found departments with bloated management structures where managers oversee just a couple of direct reports. That’s inefficient, especially at Amazon’s scale. If some areas had too many middle managers doing very little oversight, then trimming the fat makes sense. But, of course, it depends on which part of the company you’re looking at.

In any event, this brings us to a good question: What’s the ideal number of direct reports for a manager in engineering? You don’t have to wait for an answer. I have my magic number: seven. Well, obviously, it can’t be just one number, so let’s explore span of control, why seven and what data says.