Amazon CEO Denies Full In-Office Mandate is 'Backdoor Layoff' (reuters.com) 12
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.
"Strengthening our culture" (Score:5, Insightful)
Malapropism (Score:3)
"This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture."
I think he meant "control".
Many convicted felons also deny their crimes (Score:2)
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: (Score:3)
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.
So it's a pure management ego trip... (Score:4, Insightful)
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . (Score:3)
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
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.
Meanwhile on the Amazon Jobs website... (Score:3)