Bezos has steadily turned his consideration to Blue Origin since stepping down as Amazon’s CEO and now joins common enterprise evaluations and varied technical briefings the place he “digs into the small print” with managers and engineers, based on an individual conversant in the matter.
A number of present and former workers mentioned the corporate was additionally eradicating chains of decision-making that had grow to be ingrained in Blue Origin’s tradition below former chief Bob Smith.
One former government maintained that the enterprise had grown at a big clip that meant workers had a “pure inclination to push selections up,” including: “We needed to push down decision-making.”
But analysts say Bezos has struggled to get the fitting management into place on the proper time.
“The transition factors weren’t all the time proper,” mentioned Carissa Christensen, chief government of consultancy BryceTech. “A bit early, a bit too late, and typically painful.”
Present and former workers mentioned Blue Origin had grow to be extra aggressive in its flight schedule below Limp’s management.
They mentioned the choice to launch New Glenn in January with out being assured that the corporate would land its first-stage booster—which it intends to be reusable—mirrored a shift in Blue Origin’s threat urge for food. The booster was misplaced on re-entry, however the rocket made it to orbit as deliberate.
Bezos and Limp have additionally moved to vary working patterns at Blue Origin. On-line boards within the days after latest layoffs had been full of feedback from workers remarking they had been being moved to a everlasting 50-hour week with frequent 12-hour shifts, whereas badge scanners had been launched to trace worker time just like Amazon.
“Dave doesn’t have a lot respect for work-life stability,” mentioned one former senior worker.
Limp has spoken publicly alongside Bezos about growing the variety of launches this yr and reaching the Moon with the corporate’s Blue Moon lunar lander.
“Blue Origin must be a lot quicker, and it’s one of many causes that I left my function because the CEO of Amazon a few years in the past,” Bezos informed researcher and podcast host Lex Fridman final yr. “Blue Origin wants me proper now, including some power, some sense of urgency.”
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