Masafumi Ito, Leader of the Amazon Japan Union, Sues for Wrongful Termination 40
A union leader at Amazon's Japan offices has filed a lawsuit against the company for wrongful termination, alleging he was unfairly targeted for his organizing activity. From a report: Masafumi Ito, who worked at the tech giant as a salesperson for more than seven years, was fired last month after being placed on a series of performance improvement plans, or PIPs, which he alleges were a ruse to force him out of the company. Ito is seeking to have his job reinstated and force Amazon to pay his lost wages. "I joined Amazon because I love the company. I want to return to work and continue to contribute," Ito said at a press conference in Tokyo earlier this week. "I brought this case because I want to change the work environment where people are suddenly fired for unfair reasons. My colleagues cannot work safely under such an environment."
Ito and other members of the Amazon Japan Union -- who organized as part of the Tokyo Managers' Union (MU) in 2015 -- say the company weaponizes PIPs to arbitrarily dismiss employees, particularly those who challenge its relentless work culture. Amazon argues the plans help staff develop and learn, but their use has been controversial at the tech giant in Tokyo, as well as the U.S., for years. Ito's case, which has received significant attention in Japan, will now test whether Amazon's practices can survive in the country. Ito's role at Amazon was to bring more electronics stores onto the company's shopping platform and encourage them to use Amazon Prime. He said he performed well, but managers still subjected him to a series of PIPs and disciplinary actions over the past few years. Ito was finally fired in March, after he failed to meet the requirements of his latest evaluation, and managers told him he showed no desire to improve.
Ito and other members of the Amazon Japan Union -- who organized as part of the Tokyo Managers' Union (MU) in 2015 -- say the company weaponizes PIPs to arbitrarily dismiss employees, particularly those who challenge its relentless work culture. Amazon argues the plans help staff develop and learn, but their use has been controversial at the tech giant in Tokyo, as well as the U.S., for years. Ito's case, which has received significant attention in Japan, will now test whether Amazon's practices can survive in the country. Ito's role at Amazon was to bring more electronics stores onto the company's shopping platform and encourage them to use Amazon Prime. He said he performed well, but managers still subjected him to a series of PIPs and disciplinary actions over the past few years. Ito was finally fired in March, after he failed to meet the requirements of his latest evaluation, and managers told him he showed no desire to improve.
The beatings will continue.... (Score:2)
until the morale improves. It reminds me of PFT requirements in the military, not this new lowered bar crap but if you could find yourself in a world of crap if they "mismeasured" your height for example and you had to meet a lower weight goal.
Re: The beatings will continue.... (Score:4, Interesting)
I could believe Amazon would unfairly punish an employee for reasons having nothing to do with job performance. I don't know Mr. Ito, but it isn't hard to believe the alternative either and almost everyone has known some lazy remora that's latched on for a ride if they've been around long enough.
At the end of the day it's just an episode of Jerry Springer for the tech crowd.
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We don't know enough about the case to say who is right. It's possible that Ito was improving for years, meeting every goal of these PIPs - only to next month see a new PIP that basically goes, "Improve 10% over your current standard". Again and again. A person can only improve so much - there's a hard ceiling or at least a point of diminishing returns where you just can't improve anymore or fast enough.
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Interesting FP (though unmoderated), but a generic response, while the more interesting aspects of the story are quite specific and even local to Japan. From that perspective, I think the most interesting aspect may be that the story hasn't been mentioned in the Japanese news. Possible that I've missed it (and now I know to look for it), but it certainly never made the list of featured stories. (Usually four to six headlines each day.)
It's not that the Japanese are ignoring financial topics. In particular,
That's disgusting (Score:3)
As someone who grew up bombarded by commercials about the glorious technology of PIP (Picture In Picture) that TVs first brought us in the 90s with the addition of an extra tuner which could show a different channel at a little corner square just big enough let very sharp-eyed viewers tell whether the match is showing or not, I protest again's Amazon's attempt at appropriating the acronym for their own nefarious purposes!
Re: That's disgusting (Score:1)
Performance improvement plans are a common business tool, used well before TV became a thing. Also a real geek wouldâ(TM)ve complained about the Package Installer for Python getting a bad rep.
Re: That's disgusting (Score:4, Funny)
Also a real geek wouldâ(TM)ve complained about the Package Installer for Python getting a bad rep.
First of all, that's pip, not PIP. Second, I use Perl you insensitive clod!
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Amen, brother. Apart from not grasping humor, the GP does not realize how much more prevalent "picture in picture" was than "performance improvement plan", especially in the the decade I explicitly referred to. Again from the ngram viewer to illustrate: https://books.google.com/ngram... [google.com]
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Package Installer for Python getting a bad rep.
That reputation is clearly earned.
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Personal Improvement Plans are used in the UK and some European countries as well. Employment laws don't allow employers to simply fire established employees, they have to explain what the issue is and agree a reasonable way to address it, and then give them a chance to.
As such they often come up in constructive dismissal cases against employers, because the employer wants to fire that person so they come up with an excuse to issue a PIP and then make it impossible to meet the required standard. Often the h
This is nothing new. (Score:2)
Since a major portion of your compensation was in stock options, many people put up with this practi
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Where are the SJW?
Some of them formed a union, and others are trying to get some started. Cunts like you who use "SJW" to dismiss views you don't like are the ones trying to stop them.
My first experience with a union (Score:2)
In 1959, fresh out of high school, I got my first job loading boxes containing suitcases onto railway cars at Schwayder Bro's on South Broadway. The owner, Jesse Schwayder, had an office right next to the production floor. His office door was always open and you could walk in at any time to ask questions, makes suggestions or complain about something. Every Christmas he would take a certain percentage of the profits and distribute them to the employees, the amount being bases on the years of service. It
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Cool story bro. I had a bad meal once at a restaurant and solved it by never going to one again.
The PIP Trick (Score:2)
Something that might interest those individuals and might be an option they can try without arousing suspicions would be to look around and see if their HR department has a definition of job roles and job grades. Quite often you'll find job roles like "Developer", "Production Support Technician", "Network Eng
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Having traditionally worked only for smaller companies, I wasn't even familiar with the "PIP" or any of these tactics. But after a stint w/Amazon, I can assure people that all of what you said here is really accurate.
The small group I was hired to be a part of there was almost immediately prevented from doing what we were hired to do, because upper management was in some sort of feud about whether or not they even wanted the division anymore, and which department would take the hit for our salaries and exp
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Companies are literally designed to protect their own interests and this is a key part of that process. HR / Personnel departments in large companies are like "Enforcers" ["Nice little job you got here, shame if something were to happen to it"].
You can weaponize this if you are ever put on a PIP. The short is that you need to make sure up front that everything on your PIP is clearly defined and achievable. If it's not, complain up front to HR, and they will typically go against your manager.
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Obviously you and I are going to have very different experiences [unless we unwittingly both work for the same company].
But the thing to bear in mind here is that in a dispute scenario, your Manager and HR represent “the company” and you represent “you”. Where there is any form of dispute, then your Manager and HR will align their interests against you. Don’t mistake my comment for the idea that I
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your Manager and HR represent “the company” and you represent “you”.
This isn't right. HR represents "the company," and the Manager represents themself. Usually HR will start on the side of the manager, but they will focus on risk-avoidance for the company. If you can show that the manager is more of a risk than yourself, then HR will switch to your side. This is largely done by talking like a lawyer.
improving after 7 years? (Score:2)
Don't most people have a solid grasp of their job after 7 years? How much room for improvement is there, really?
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Put another way, if you get to the end of any day of work and think that you’ve learned nothing new, then it is either time to find a different role, or it is time to retire.
I’m conscious that this could come across as either argumentative or arrogant - but I don’t mean to be either. It might be better to say, then, that whether or not you find something to learn after 7 years in a role has more to d
How it works in Japan... (Score:2)
Japan has a well developed social contract into which the employer/employee relationship is fully integrated. Failing a PIP is not in itself enough to legally justify dismissal. If taken to court, the PIP and all associated records will be examined microscopically for fairness and proportionality. The company will be challenged as to why the employee was not transferred to a different, perhaps more suitable, role.
The reason the laws are strict is to protect social stability. Japanese society has decided tha