The New York Times released an article on August 15th exposing the working conditions at the tech company, Amazon. Since then, there has been much controversy over what is truly happening at the corporate and creative level of the company.
Amazon offers some of the lowest prices, on almost any item you can think of, from Elmer’s glue to Rolex watches. The company's stock price has raised 400% in the past five years and is on a meteoric rise. Amazon also sells products at significantly low prices. A 5 terabyte hard drive that is usually $399.99 goes for $139.99 on the company’s website. The price drop can be found across thousands of products on Amazon, making it the number one destination for online purchases. Their shipping service is among the fastest in the world, offering two to even same day delivery. But how does Amazon do it all though? It can be found in the company’s founding principles.
Amazon demands that their “leaders” make no mistakes, are “right a lot,” and “challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting.” No doubt, the company demands much from their employees, but how far does it go?
The New York Times journalists, Jodi Kantor and David Streitfield, reported what they saw at Amazon on an average day of work. “At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late” Kantor and Streitfeld reported. Employees were also reported using secret communication devices to talk to their bosses and “sabotage” other employees.
The environment created at Amazon, however, is defended as being designed for success. “This is a company that strives to do really big, innovative, groundbreaking things, and those things aren’t easy,” top recruiter at Amazon Susan Harker said.
Harker went on to defend the incredibly rigorous environment. “When you’re shooting for the moon, the nature of the work is really challenging,” Harker said. But what happens to the workers who can not meet the “really challenging” working conditions?
Former Amazon employee, Molly Jay, was forced out and described as “problem” when she began working less to take care of her dying father. “When you’re not able to give your absolute all, 80 hours a week, they see it as a major weakness,” Jay said.
One female employee was told “the work is still going to need to get done,” from her superior, the day after she miscarried twins.
There are other reports of cancer patients at the company being in danger of termination as they were said to not be performing at their previous level.
Other tech companies, like Google, create a relaxed environment with several employment benefits and making it a “fun” place to work. The company's CEO, Jeff Bezos, states that Amazon “would die” if it was similar to other tech companies, like Microsoft.
However, Bezos responded to The New York Times article releasing this information as not “the Amazon I know,” saying that if The New York Times article was true, he would “would leave such a company.”
Could the company be where it is today, without the cut throat work environment and incredibly high standards? Some suggest that without it, poor choices would be made. “It would certainly be much easier and socially cohesive to just compromise and not debate, but that may lead to the wrong decision,” Vice President of Human Resources, Tony Galbato said.
It is hard to tell the truth of what is happening at Amazon, but there is certainly evidence that the company does not treat its employees with the status quo of working conditions.