Amazon gets an edge with its secret squad of PhD economists

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In the past few years, Amazon has hired more than 150 PhD economists, making it probably the largest employer in the field behind institutions like the Federal Reserve, which has hundreds of economists on staff. It was the only company with a recruiting booth at the American Economics Association's annual conference in January, handing out free pens and logoed stress balls.

To improve that feedback, Amazon tries out interventions like training managers to interact better with their subordinates. Originally, the company brought on a team of psychologists, other scientists and product managers, but before long, it became apparent that they weren't well suited to achieving what Amazon was ultimately after: Better performance. Economists, by contrast, were able to analyze which interventions led to higher worker productivity.

"It wasn't like you had to go in and interview for just one job. You could interview for lots of jobs at the same time," said Fairweather, who left Amazon in 2018 to become the chief economistfor the real estate website Redfin. Once hired, research questions were everywhere. "If I felt there was something really worth digging into, I could go dig into it. I wasn't told ahead of time what was important."