Inside Amazon

[JackReacher]

NYT writes about the working environment at Amazon. Seems like a super fun place to work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/t...g-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0

“Amazon is where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves.”

 

[YankeeFan]

Great article. Imagine what they could have done with better access.

 

[cranberry]

I'm sure that from a business standpoint there's something to be said about the Hunger Games approach, pitting people against one another creates good competition and a true meritocracy. I bet the shareholders love it.

 

[Riptide]

Read it yesterday. This note stuck with me:

Bo Olson was one of them. He lasted less than two years in a book marketing role and said that his enduring image was watching people weep in the office, a sight other workers described as well. “You walk out of a conference room and you’ll see a grown man covering his face,” he said. “Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”

 

[93Devil]

I'm sure that from a business standpoint there's something to be said about the Hunger Games approach, pitting people against one another creates good competition and a true meritocracy. I bet the shareholders love it.

That's what it's all about.

 

[Vombatus]

Sounds like Amazon should be high on the list of "Next Places Where Someone Will Go Postal."

 

[YankeeFan]

That's what it's all about.

Customers love Amazon.

 

[TigerVols]

This customer loves Amazon.

But that story is eye-opening. I fear the rest of corporate America will go that route as well...it's all about incentive. What incentive does Amazon (or any other company) have to treat workers better or pay them more, if there's a line around the door of people waiting to work there?

Blue and white-collar life is going to get a lot worse in the US before it gets better.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Jeff Bezos is pissed: Full memo: Jeff Bezos responds to brutal NYT story, says it doesn't represent the Amazon he leads - GeekWire

 

[JackReacher]

He should counter with his own story in the WaPo!

 

[Ace]

My understanding is that conditions are pretty hard for those $10 an hour jobs stocking the warehouses, too.

 

[cranberry]

Jeff Bezos is pissed: Full memo: Jeff Bezos responds to brutal NYT story, says it doesn't represent the Amazon he leads - GeekWire

He's just pissed because the Times' Amazon expose was better than the Washington Post's.

 

[YankeeFan]

My understanding is that conditions are pretty hard for those $10 an hour jobs stocking the warehouses, too.

Only for the weak:

In Amazon warehouses, employees are monitored by sophisticated electronic systems to ensure they are packing enough boxes every hour. (Amazon came under fire in 2011 when workers in an eastern Pennsylvania warehouse toiled in more than 100-degree heat with ambulances waiting outside, taking away laborers as they fell. After an investigation by the local newspaper, the company installed air-conditioning.)

 

[MisterCreosote]

He's just pissed because the Times' Amazon expose was better than the Washington Post's.

"Amazon workers do not in fact get unlimited vacation, hugs and smiles, along with free unicorns and rainbows. A story on Sunday's front page inaccurately described conditions within the company. We regret the error."

 

[YankeeFan]

What do we think of this comment, and really, couldn't all businesses use data/metrics better:

 

[cranberry]

Only for the weak:

In Amazon warehouses, employees are monitored by sophisticated electronic systems to ensure they are packing enough boxes every hour. (Amazon came under fire in 2011 when workers in an eastern Pennsylvania warehouse toiled in more than 100-degree heat with ambulances waiting outside, taking away laborers as they fell. After an investigation by the local newspaper, the company installed air-conditioning.)

Having those ambulances on standby is just the kind of empathy I think Bezos is talking about in his memo.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Right about now is when they hire the "life coach" who teaches employees that "embracing the positive aspects of your job" is good for your overall mental health.

In other words, the "STFU or You're Fired" guy.

 

[LongTimeListener]

You just know every tech company in the world is reading that article for pointers.

 

[JayFarrar]

The line, "when you hit the wall, you climb it" is going to stick with me for a long time.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

This customer loves Amazon.

But that story is eye-opening. I fear the rest of corporate America will go that route as well...it's all about incentive. What incentive does Amazon (or any other company) have to treat workers better or pay them more, if there's a line around the door of people waiting to work there?

Blue and white-collar life is going to get a lot worse in the US before it gets better.

But...but...I thought we didn't need unions now because companies weren't mean to people anymore?