Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon has strongly refuted claims by the New York Times which described Amazon’s working conditions as deplorable and could result in psychological breakdowns. For example, Bo Olson, who worked in books marketing said,
“Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”
Bezos doesn’t recognise the portrayal of Amazon in the New York Times article and released a thorough statement to employees:
“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:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amazonians-response-inside-amazon-wrestling-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 jeff@amazon.com. 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”
Now both sides of the story have been publicly revealed, it’s virtually impossible to know the inner workings of Amazon without becoming an employee. Although, a documentary from the BBC shows insider footage as an undercover journalist experiences the Amazon workload. I would highly recommend watching the video, despite its poor quality as it really is quite shocking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4aRz7NqTOo
Thank you The Verge for providing us with this information.
