Addressing mental health and well-being at AWS

When Beijing-based AWS digital marketing manager Wang Ziwen needed a listening ear, her manager suggested that she turn to AWS’s employee assistance program (EAP).

Since then, Ziwen has had five sessions with a professional counselor and has benefited from the EAP, a free 24/7 service to support mental health and well-being which is offered to all Amazon and AWS employees and their family members.

"The counseling greatly helped me get through tough times,” Ziwen said. “I felt respected, cared for, and loved.”

As the world emerges from the pandemic, mental health and well-being continues to be a global concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally, anxiety and depressive disorders rose more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic. This year, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) theme for World Mental Health Day, which falls on Oct. 10, is “Making mental health and well-being for all a global priority.”

In addition to the EAP, an Amazon mental health and well-being affinity group launched in 2020 to create a formalized community where employees can come together and mutually support each other. While this group was one of the newest affinity groups, it has quickly grown to thousands of members globally.

The affinity group provides self-help resources, organizes events where members can meet up, and shares videos on a broadcast channel featuring a wide range of topics including anxiety and depression.

To date, more than 150 global videos have published, divided into core topics including stress and anxiety relief, self-care, senior leaders talking about mental health, getting the most out of employee benefits, and suicide prevention. There’s also a series called “living with,” which gives Amazonians a platform to talk about their own experiences with mental illness, either personally or as a caretaker. Topics have included living with eating disorders, ADHD, anxiety disorders, PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and more.

Cameron, whose belief in the importance of mental health and well-being was sparked over 10 years ago when she started looking into those issues for marginalized communities in Australia and the United Kingdom, leads this affinity group.

“AWS business groups and teams would get together to watch the videos and have a reflection afterwards over a cup of coffee,” she said. ”It’s great for awareness that people are open and talking about mental health and well-being.”

Internal channels where affinity group members connect have become safe spaces where members can ask questions—anonymously if they choose— or share ideas, resources, and advice. In the global chat channel, the space has become a place for honest, open sharing of everything from personal experiences to crises.

Julie Liveris, a Seattle-based senior inside sales account rep for AWS Worldwide Commercial Sales, joined the affinity group in 2020 and found it to be open, compassionate, and supportive. She now serves on the board of directors leading partnership and outreach. While not formally trained in mental health, she’s committed to raising her voice and working to normalize conversations around mental health.

“I want to be a part of shifting the understanding of mental health as an individual priority to a collective priority. I am passionate about engaging in meaningful conversation, promoting awareness, creating connection, and inspiring others to join in,” Liveris said. “AWS is a diverse workplace committed to equity and inclusion, and I am glad to see how these ongoing conversations and initiatives now include mental health and well-being as this is the next frontier of DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion).”   

Indeed, Cameron notes that there is a greater willingness to talk about difficult mental health issues within AWS, part of which is due to how leaders and managers are leading these conversations.

“We have come a long way, that’s for sure. In terms of conversations, we are more openly discussing mental health and well-being,” she said. “We have moved away from treating it as a taboo topic to a situation where everyone feels a lot more comfortable talking about it. I love the fact that we have leaders talking and sharing their stories about mental health, and how they go about taking care of their own well-being.”

Managers and how they take care of their teams is a critical part of the equation, as managers are the first point of contact for employees. To that end, Cameron says that she is getting regular invitations to train managers on the topic.

“I’m asked to educate managers and leaders on how to support their team members,” she said.  “There have been situations where they ask how to best bring their team together to talk about mental health”

AWS is looking to put more structures in place so that those who have to start managing teams are equipped with the best knowledge to take care of mental health and well-being, as part of their manager onboarding programs.

“The seeds are effectively being planted,” said Cameron.

Leaders at AWS also appreciate that mental health is just one element of well-being. Cameron, who recently gave a presentation on well-being at a regional AWS summit, says that other aspects which affect how well we feel include socializing with friends, purposeful work, regular exercise, sufficient sleep, and financial security.

AWS initiatives which were introduced to address these include designated “no meeting” days on the last Friday of each month, in AWS offices in the Asia-Pacific, Japan and China. Employees are encouraged to enjoy personal development activities, or take care of their own wellness.

For enterprise account manager Shin Sung Woo, who is based in Korea, he makes sure he fits in a workout session and meditation session every day.

“If I have a challenging day, I go to the gym and focus on the day’s workout. It helps me clear my mind, forget what I felt earlier, and I feel better,” he said.

In September, Amazon launched a new, self-guided digital mental health program available 24/7 to U.S. employees through its benefits portal. The program offers science-based activities and games to help employees manage stress, anxiety, and self-care. It also includes personalized content tracks—such as meditation to improve happiness, fitness motivation, or overcoming negative thoughts—based on how employees anonymously self-describe the themes they’re interested in or the areas of mental health for which they’re seeking support.

As an AWS leader, Cameron walks the talk. “Questions that I like to ask of my team members are ‘Are you OK? How is your resilience?’ It’s that simple,” she said.

Likewise, she is not afraid to show her own vulnerability. During the pandemic, Cameron re-located from Singapore to Seattle to London in the last three years, and each move was stressful.

She said, “With my leaders and my team, I am open to telling them that I am struggling at the moment and they fully understand. As an individual, I feel 100% supported by AWS.”

She also likes to impart this advice to her team members: “Sometimes we put ourselves second and put everyone else first, but we need to be a little bit selfish and prioritize our own mental health and well-being first. Beyond ourselves, we need to encourage, support and advocate for each other because we are part of a community.”

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