In his final letter to shareholders as Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos invoked the warehouse workers’ union vote in Bessemer, Ala. as an example of why the company needs to improve workers’ satisfaction. “It’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees—a vision for their success,” the letter reads. (The Logic)

Talking point: Employees ultimately voted against unionizing, but the Alabama warehouse’s campaign garnered substantial attention and support, including from politicians all the way up to President Joe Biden. Despite acknowledging the need to improve employees’ experience, Bezos rejected claims of a brutal work environment: “Our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not accurate,” he said. Also on Thursday, Amazon announced US$250 million in venture funding for Indian startups focusing on digitizing small- and medium-sized businesses—a group that has been critical of Amazon, alleging it skirted federal regulations in a way that disadvantages them.