NYT report spurs debate on Amazon work culture
Print Edition
Is online giant Amazon a bruising and uncaring workplace or a hub for innovation that pushes its employees to reach their potential?
The question was hotly debated yesterday after a New York Times report based on interviews with more than 100 current and former staff of the US online giant. Its conclusion: Amazon is conducting “an experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers.”
The lengthy report described an environment which pitted employees against each other in an effort to boost productivity, and quoted one as saying “nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”
Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos swiftly sought to rebut the claims, saying that the article “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day.”
In a memo to staff published on several websites, Bezos said the Times “claims that our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had and no laughter heard.”
The article also provoked heated responses from Silicon Valley leaders and Amazon employees, and generated over 3,600 reader comments at the New York Times.
Dick Costolo, Twitter ex-CEO, tweeted of the article: “This has ‘taken out of context’ stamped all over it and symptomatic of a growing reliance on hyperbole to score points.”
Marc Andreessen, a well-known Silicon Valley equity investor, said on Twitter: “I’ve talked with hundreds of Amazon vets, men and women, over 20 years. Not one didn’t think it’s a good place to work.”
The article comes with Amazon and Bezos enjoying huge success as the company has expanded from retail sales to cloud computing, online video, grocery delivery etc.
But some consumers found the New York Times report convincing and disturbing.
John Green, an author of young adult books, said the article “made me cancel my Amazon Prime subscription” and said it showed Amazon as the “worst cult ever.”
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