'I don't recognise Amazon as a bullying workplace' says Bezos Jeff Bezos has responded to an article reporting on Amazon's allegedly unpleasant office culture by stating that the "shockingly callous management practices" do not ring true with the Amazon he knows. A mammoth article from the New York Times reported on Amazon's "bruising workplace" this weekend, with the subheading …
Bezos knows, he created the monster - this is just a dance for the Feds and investors. Whitewash versus reality, one of the things that makes me crazy because it's what they say, rather than what they do, that counts. Fscking politics.
Isn't it crazy? Everybody knows this, that, and the other is total bullshit, yet refuse to call it as it is.
People, what a bunch of bastards....
Allowing people with marketing personalities to manage anything is akin to a deathwish. What was described from the NYT article sound precisely like Marketing-As-Management. It has killed or decimated many companies. I had to live through it at Eastman Kodak. The end result is obvious. Apple went through a Marketing-As-Management period, culminating in $1 Billion worth of Mac Performa computers rotting in warehouses because no one wanted them. It brought Apple to its knees.
People with actual, natural LEADERSHIP skills are required for management. Perhaps Mr. Bezos should consider not just the hiring people who are tech savvy, but people who actually understand now to work with and manage other people. Such people are ALSO gravely in short supply, sad to say.
and there are (at least) dozens of job applications on file for every position at the company, what is Amazon's incentive to treat employees with respect? As long as there are plenty of customers happy to use its one-click-and-ship (or whatever their special sauce is) service for their shopping, there is no financial incentive to mend their ways. With low prices being part of their schtick, I don't expect to see customers boycotting the Smiley Box people any time soon (as is/was the case with Walmart and their sub-optimal working conditions).
We have hired several people from AWS and Amazon.com, and Amazon has tried very hard to prevent them from leaving by threatening them with lawsuits because they were forced to sign non-compete agreements when they joined. The non-competes say they cannot work at any company Amazon deems a competitor for 6 months after they leave, which of course would make them unemployable anywhere else if enforceable.
Now these Draconian non-competes are not enforceable in California, but they still make the lives of these people a living hell by threatening them with crippling legal costs. They are, regrettably, enforceable in Washington state. So, as an employee wanting to leave, who do you believe -- the new employer who says you won't get sued, or the crazy guy from Amazon legal foaming at the mouth threatening to sue you for everything you have?
What's particularly chilling is that they even do this for the people Amazon fired. Yes, the folks they culled for whatever reason, Darwinian or otherwise. They fire them and then still want to enforce the non-compete, ensuring the poor fired people have no income for another 6 months for daring to want to work somewhere else and earn a salary. Do not work there -- you will regret it, even after you leave.
Do I live poor for six months or take a chance the bloodsucking lawyers* will come after me?
Right or wrong, that bastards will beat you to fucking death funding a defense against them - then you're forced to make a business decision rather than stand on principle.
If you're single, principle is King, you'll survive it. If you have a family that depends on you, you get the business decision.
*Imagine all the grief we could save the world from if we hung all the lawyers. Since 99.3% of all politicians are lawyers, we (as in humans) would get a two-fer. Robert Heinlein was an intelligent man.
On holiday in Seattle, was with my wife at a hotel bar when a big Amazon conference was on. Some (drunk) guy claiming to be on their grad scheme imposed a conversation on us about how amazing Amazon was and how he was proud to work there, as he had a team he managed (in distribution I believe). He regaled us on how he berated them when they failed to meet targets and how many people he'd fired because of it. He was around 20-24, arrogant, yet astute enough to realise his team hated him. He didn't know or care why.
My wife and I came to the conclusion that we agreed with his team.
Amazon go boom. Problem with dog eat dog at the workplace, the rabid dogs last the longest only because they are better at taking credit for the work of others whilst blaming others for all the mistakes. This burden of corruption work practices in order to survive eventually kills the company. Decent people do not want to work there, only taking the job if they are desperate and leaving as possible there after.
Think about staff turnover, each one gone is now an ex-employee and most definately an ex-customer, keep it up and you have very few customers left because one thing disgruntled customers do is create more ex-customers.
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