Imagine if your ideas could actually help shape how one of the biggest companies in the world — yes, AMAZON — welcomes and keeps its workforce.

Now stop imagining, because that's exactly what this project is about.

Every year, Amazon spends billions (yep, with a B 💸) because employees leave before they even hit Day 90.

You're going to change that.

Through the Voice of the Associate externship, you'll dive into real employee reviews, uncover what's actually causing new hires to burn out or bounce, and design smart, persona-driven solutions that help Amazon's Learning Ambassadors connect better, faster, and more humanely with every new team member.

Saving Amazon millions?

Helping real people feel more seen, supported, and successful at one of the world's largest companies?

Yeah...no pressure. 😎

Project Output

Externs will analyze publicly available reviews and testimonials from Amazon Fulfillment Center employees (via Glassdoor, Indeed, Reddit, and YouTube) to identify common workplace pain points—such as communication gaps, lack of recognition, or burnout.

After identifying a key theme, each extern will select a key employee persona and explore how that issue uniquely affects them. You'll then design a persona-specific solution that a team leader could use to improve the associate experience.

  • User insight synthesis
  • Qualitative analysis and data-backed storytelling
  • Operational problem framing
  • Business-ready recommendation design
  • Presentation to Amazon

Skills You'll Gain

  • Root Cause Analysis (5 Whys): Go beyond surface-level observations to uncover the “why” behind user behavior and friction.
  • Thematic Analysis: Identify and organize recurring themes across qualitative data to shape product direction.
  • Friction Mapping: Visualize pain points in the user journey to inform targeted interventions.
  • Cleaning Unstructured Data: Work with real user inputs—like interview transcripts and feedback—to prepare data for analysis.
  • Text Cleaning in Python (NLTK, TextBlob): Use beginner-friendly Python tools to structure and analyze messy textual data.
  • Sentiment Tagging & Visualization: Quantify how users feel, and connect emotion to themes that drive product change.
  • Insight Memo Writing: Craft clear, concise summaries that turn findings into action.
  • Consultant-Style Storytelling: Learn how to present research in a way that resonates with cross-functional teams and decision-makers.
  • Business Prioritization: Practice making tradeoffs between user needs and business goals using real frameworks.

Your Schedule

8 weeks

  • Project 1 — Understand the Operational Challenge
  • Project 2 — Collect & Clean Employee Voice Data
  • Project 3 — Find Sentiment & Keyword Patterns in Employee Voice Data
  • Project 4 — Uncover Themes & Root Causes in Employee Voice Data
  • Project 5 — Segment the Workforce & Identify Priorities
  • Project 6 — Recommend a Pilot-Ready Intervention

About Amazon

Amazon Fulfillment Centers are the backbone of Amazon’s logistics network, serving as massive, high-tech warehouses where customer orders are received, stored, picked, packed, and shipped. These facilities are integral to Amazon's ability to offer rapid delivery services, including same-day and two-day shipping.

Meet Your Host

David Maloney
Manager, Economic Development
As an experienced governmental affairs professional with more than 20 years experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, David’s role supporting Amazon’s Project Kuiper puts him right where big ideas meet real-world execution—at the intersection of strategy, systems, and scale.

Get Started Today

Join our 8-week Externship with Amazon to learn more about workforce operations, management, and more!