Jeff Bezos Says Amazon Won’t Tolerate ‘Callous’ Management Practices# JobHunting - 待字闺中
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Amazon said late Sunday that it would not tolerate the “shockingly callous
management practices” described in an article in The New York Times over
the weekend. Jeff Bezos, the retail giant’s founder and chief executive,
said he did not recognize the workplace portrayed in the article and urged
any employees who knew of “stories like those reported” to contact him
directly.
“Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such lack of empathy
needs to be zero,” Mr. Bezos said in an email circulated to all the
retailer’s employees.
The article —“Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace”
— gave accounts of workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and
other personal crises who said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out
rather than given time to recover in Amazon’s intense and fast-paced
workplace.
Mr. Bezos wrote that he “very much” hoped workers did not recognize the
workplace depicted in the article — “a soulless, dystopian workplace where
no fun is had and no laughter heard.”
At Amazon, the article said, the winners get the thrill of testing new
projects with hundreds of millions of customers. They also become rich
through a stock that has increased tenfold since 2008. But the losers are
pushed out in regular culling. One former Amazon human resources director
called it “purposeful Darwinism.”
Amazon declined a request to interview Mr. Bezos for the original article,
but made several executives available. Over all, The Times interviewed over
100 current and former Amazon employees, including many who spoke on the
record and some who requested anonymity because they had signed agreements
saying they would not speak to the press.
Mr. Bezos urged his 180,000 employees to give the Times article “a careful
read” but said it “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring
Amazonians I work with every day.”
Amazon and Mr. Bezos have also circulated an account on LinkedIn by Nick
Ciubotariu, an Amazon engineer and manager, describing his 18 months of
experience at the company.
Like many of the Amazon employees quoted in The Times article, Mr.
Ciubotariu describes strengths of the workplace, including focus on
customers and innovation. However, some of his assertions were incorrect,
including a statement that the company does not cull employees on an annual
basis. An Amazon spokesman previously confirmed that the company manages out
a pre-determined percentage of its workforce every year. The engineer also
quotes an unnamed senior executive telling an all-hands meeting, “Amazon
used to burn a lot of people into the ground.”
The text of Mr. Bezos’s letter:
Dear Amazonians,
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to give this (very long) New York
Times article a careful read: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html
I also encourage you to read this very different take by a current Amazonian
-big-ideas-nick-ciubotariu
Here’s why I’m writing you. The NYT article prominently features anecdotes
describing shockingly callous management practices, including people being
treated without empathy while enduring family tragedies and serious health
problems. The article doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring
Amazonians I work with every day. But if you know of any stories like those
reported, I want you to escalate to HR. You can also email me directly at
[email protected]
/* */ Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such
lack of empathy needs to be zero.
The article goes further than reporting isolated anecdotes. It claims that
our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where
no fun is had and no laughter heard. Again, I don’t recognize this Amazon
and I very much hope you don’t, either. More broadly, I don’t think any
company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in
today’s highly competitive tech hiring market. The people we hire here are
the best of the best. You are recruited every day by other world-class
companies, and you can work anywhere you want.
I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the
one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a
company.
But hopefully, you don’t recognize the company described. Hopefully, you’
re having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent
the future, and laughing along the way.
Thank you,
Jeff
”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/technology/amazon-bezos-workp
“
Amazon said late Sunday that it would not tolerate the “shockingly callous
management practices” described in an article in The New York Times over
the weekend. Jeff Bezos, the retail giant’s founder and chief executive,
said he did not recognize the workplace portrayed in the article and urged
any employees who knew of “stories like those reported” to contact him
directly.
“Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such lack of empathy
needs to be zero,” Mr. Bezos said in an email circulated to all the
retailer’s employees.
The article —“Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace”
— gave accounts of workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and
other personal crises who said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out
rather than given time to recover in Amazon’s intense and fast-paced
workplace.
Mr. Bezos wrote that he “very much” hoped workers did not recognize the
workplace depicted in the article — “a soulless, dystopian workplace where
no fun is had and no laughter heard.”
At Amazon, the article said, the winners get the thrill of testing new
projects with hundreds of millions of customers. They also become rich
through a stock that has increased tenfold since 2008. But the losers are
pushed out in regular culling. One former Amazon human resources director
called it “purposeful Darwinism.”
Amazon declined a request to interview Mr. Bezos for the original article,
but made several executives available. Over all, The Times interviewed over
100 current and former Amazon employees, including many who spoke on the
record and some who requested anonymity because they had signed agreements
saying they would not speak to the press.
Mr. Bezos urged his 180,000 employees to give the Times article “a careful
read” but said it “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring
Amazonians I work with every day.”
Amazon and Mr. Bezos have also circulated an account on LinkedIn by Nick
Ciubotariu, an Amazon engineer and manager, describing his 18 months of
experience at the company.
Like many of the Amazon employees quoted in The Times article, Mr.
Ciubotariu describes strengths of the workplace, including focus on
customers and innovation. However, some of his assertions were incorrect,
including a statement that the company does not cull employees on an annual
basis. An Amazon spokesman previously confirmed that the company manages out
a pre-determined percentage of its workforce every year. The engineer also
quotes an unnamed senior executive telling an all-hands meeting, “Amazon
used to burn a lot of people into the ground.”
The text of Mr. Bezos’s letter:
Dear Amazonians,
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to give this (very long) New York
Times article a careful read: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html
I also encourage you to read this very different take by a current Amazonian
-big-ideas-nick-ciubotariu
Here’s why I’m writing you. The NYT article prominently features anecdotes
describing shockingly callous management practices, including people being
treated without empathy while enduring family tragedies and serious health
problems. The article doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring
Amazonians I work with every day. But if you know of any stories like those
reported, I want you to escalate to HR. You can also email me directly at
[email protected]
/* */ Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such
lack of empathy needs to be zero.
The article goes further than reporting isolated anecdotes. It claims that
our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where
no fun is had and no laughter heard. Again, I don’t recognize this Amazon
and I very much hope you don’t, either. More broadly, I don’t think any
company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in
today’s highly competitive tech hiring market. The people we hire here are
the best of the best. You are recruited every day by other world-class
companies, and you can work anywhere you want.
I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the
one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a
company.
But hopefully, you don’t recognize the company described. Hopefully, you’
re having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent
the future, and laughing along the way.
Thank you,
Jeff
”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/technology/amazon-bezos-workp
