Amazon CEO Denies Full In-Office Mandate is 'Backdoor Layoff' (reuters.com) 34
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said at an all-hands meeting on Tuesday that the plan to require employees to be in-office five days per week is not meant to force attrition or satisfy city leaders, as many employees have suggested. Reuters: The controversial plan mandating workers come to Amazon offices every day starting next year, up from three days now, has caused consternation among employees who say it is stricter than other tech companies and will hinder efficiency because of commuting times. Workers who are consistently not in compliance have been told they will be "voluntarily resigning" and locked out of company computers.
"A number of people I've seen theorized that the reason we were doing this is, it's a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities," said Jassy, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by Reuters. "I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us. This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture," he said.
"A number of people I've seen theorized that the reason we were doing this is, it's a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities," said Jassy, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by Reuters. "I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us. This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture," he said.
I could deny a bunch of stuff too (Score:5, Insightful)
When a corporation tries to unload staff by getting them to quit of their own accord, the very last thing they're going to do is admit that and lose a financial advantage.
Re: I could deny a bunch of stuff too (Score:3, Insightful)
Pretty stupid way of laying off. Just fire all low performers. That would at least make sense. Instead who will leave? People who has other options.
I get the team and all that jazz, but here at my employer that imay or may not be a major supplier of cellphone chips we waste way more time during in office days (4). Min 1 hr lunch, coffee breaks, endless hallway chats on random non work related topics. 2 of such days per week is enough.
Re:I could deny a bunch of stuff too (Score:5, Funny)
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When a company says something is about the company's "culture", then you know they're lying. Companies like to talk about such things, but you can't force a culture to happen, and even when there is a corporate culture it varies greatly between teams. If anything, the only common culture in a company is usually based around how to reduce stress in the brutal environment.
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Re:I could deny a bunch of stuff too (Score:5, Interesting)
When a corporation forces a pre-pandemic workplace policy after WFH was validated for years forcing millions of tailpipes back on congested roadways, the very last thing we should ever accept is any claim of that organization “Going Green” for any financial advantage whatsoever.
RTO mandates fly in the face of every environmental initiative. Can’t have it both ways, ya fuckin’ hypocrites.
"Strengthening our culture" (Score:5, Insightful)
Malapropism (Score:5, Insightful)
"This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture."
I think he meant "control".
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"This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture..."
...now bend over.
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It says right here on the wall, in the company's official culture policy plaque: "Our culture is to increase value to shareholders by whatever means necessary!"
Many convicted felons also deny their crimes (Score:3)
Another comment about "culture" (Score:5, Informative)
Two of the three posts ahead of mine as I write this are about
This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture
Is this the "culture" that came up with Amazen booths for warehouse employees [youtube.com]? Or is it the one that has delivery drivers peeing in bottles to make their quotas? Or maybe the one that has created a law-enforcement-overreach-friendly Ring surveillance network? Or the union-busting one, or the planet-raping one, or any of probably at least a hundred other exemplars of psychopathic anti-social behaviour?
Well, of course it's ALL of the above. It's no wonder some Amazon employees would like to limit their participation in such a culture!
Re:Another comment about "culture" (Score:4, Insightful)
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Thanks - I've listened to part of the audiobook and I have both of the docs but haven't watched them yet. I'm making a note in my calendar to watch.
So whats the best popcorn for reading the comments (Score:3)
Of course I will pick some up at my LOCAL store instead of paying Amazon anything to have some dropped off at my door.
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Is Orville Redenbacker still considered good?
Orville Redenbacker is a capitalist hack. A fraud built on a lie built on Colonel Sander's appeal to the elder crowd that had never had pressure cooked chicken before. Shave the facial hair, adjust the suit colors a bit and you get Orville Redenbacker, popcorn king of of the midwest that turned his silly obsession into a multi-million dollar industry, killing off or buying up independent growers and destroying the civility and comradery that comes from buying popcorn from your local farmers. The man ruined
So it's a pure management ego trip... (Score:5, Insightful)
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . (Score:4, Interesting)
My own company is doing the same thing with RTO.
They were HOPING enough people would simply quit as it's a lot less messier than if the company
fired them or laid them off.
The problem is, folks didn't quit and now the company has a big problem on their hands.
They have neither the cubicle space nor enough parking ( many are parking six blocks away ) and they
have no idea what they're going to do with the THOUSANDS ( ~2500 more ) of additional folks that are
scheduled to report to their designated offices via the RTO mandate.
Rumors are they're considering putting up cubicles in the hallways . . . . . :P
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Real reasons for return-to-office mandates (Score:2)
I'm convinced the return-to-office mandates have one purpose and one purpose only: issue a stupid order to the workforce and see who obeys. Those who don't then can be fired.
It's a very good excuse to get rid of employees who don't blindly follow orders legally.
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And imagine the hubris of some CEOs to think they can dictate what employees WEAR to work. Some have to wear strange brown uniforms all day. Others have to wear orange shorts and tight t-shirts all day. Others have to wear strange hats with ears or striped shirts with a circus theme.
Other workers have to wear their name on a little plastic tag so customers know exactly who to complain about. Others have their computers and telephones monitored and have timed allowances for toilet breaks. Some have to sh
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Meanwhile on the Amazon Jobs website... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Meanwhile on the Amazon Jobs website... (Score:1)
Alas it is not up to individual managers.
Of course it is (Score:4, Insightful)
Nobody implements a shitty work policy that will obviously cause people to leave unless their intention was to get people to leave. And there is every reason to think that was Amazon's intention since it's cheaper to make people quit than to pay them to leave. The problem of course, is that anyone who has transferable skills (e.g. AI, cloud etc.) will contemplate quitting and all the deadwood will cling on tenaciously no matter what the company does.
Who's the boss then? (Score:2)
Good Job, Everybody (Score:2)
I was going to leave a comment about the lying but everybody is already on the same page.
BS Detectors are all certified accurate today!
Communication (Score:2)
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100% related to cities (Score:2)
With the number of
Voluntarily? (Score:2)
Nobody seems to be mentioning this part:
Workers who are consistently not in compliance have been told they will be "voluntarily resigning" and locked out of company computers.
Seems to be a severe abuse of the word "voluntarily". An employer cannot resign on behalf of their employee.
Meanwhile, using data to downsize office (Score:2)
Where I work, they noticed that only 10% of the office is now used since the lockdown ended. The lease was due for renewal.
They already moved the datacenter to a colo (because they outgrew it)
So, they are moving to a new office that is 9% smaller.
They save $$ on office costs and continue to save on WFH office costs.
Employees who need an office still have one.
Our culture allows this. We work across locations and timezones. We always have and will always need to.
Most employees are like the xkcd comic https [xkcd.com]