Posted on 08/15/2015 12:07:31 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
The company is conducting an experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions.
SEATTLE — On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon’s singular way of working.
They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.
At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.” The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: “I felt concerned about his inflexibility and openly complaining about minor tasks.”) Many of the newcomers filing in on Mondays may not be there in a few years. The company’s winners dream up innovations that they roll out to a quarter-billion customers and accrue small fortunes in soaring stock. Losers leave or are fired in annual cullings of the staff — “purposeful Darwinism,” one former Amazon human resources director said. Some workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and other personal crises said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out rather than given time to recover.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Stories like this one make me glad I’m self-employed (have no idea if this particular story is accurate, but if not, there are others). My boss may be a cheap bastard, but he ain’t gonna fire me, and when I really need a break, he’ll give me one without there being any bad repercussions at review time.
Sounds culty.
We have two Amazon fulfillment centers here. They take out a full page ad about every two weeks recruiting new workers. The ad says “on-the-spot job offers” and they sure do go through a lot of workers. They offer good benefits and a decent wage but I have heard, from people that worked there and quit, that they work people nearly to death. I don’t have first hand knowledge of it though.
Think about what Amazon has created. How well they execute. If you order something, and its supposed to be here in 2 days... well its here in two days. From my experience, they execute flawlessly.
This doesn’t come about by having some wishy washy culture where mediocrity is tolerated. Its a tough culture, and has created a company that knows how to execute.
Sounds like OCD that will get you fired elsewhere might be a desirable trait here.
When I lost that kind of interest, I sold it, to younger people, some of whom worked for me. Very few businesses actually "succeed" beyond being a mere service provider. Those that do cultivate an environment of excellence. Hey, no one makes you work at Amazon.
It ain’t the post office...
I worked at a silicon valley startup in the 90s and I did well, but the stress is through the roof. People who left before 9 at night were looked down on. The pace was incredible, especially pre-ipo and the first couple years. There are a lot of stories like this (at least there used to be.) Now they just hire Indians and Chinese with H1-B visas who’s life is solely dedicated to work. Maybe an American manager and a few engineers, but not as many as back then.
Almost all of the main manufacturing plants and places like Amazon operate like this. I retired from P&G and it’s brutal but it works. I don’t believe in mistreating employees but I have noticed that there are a lot of employees that don’t like to work. The world is so competitive that if businesses don’t do this they can’t compete. Most pay a good wage with good benefits and expect your best for their money. Slackers don’t survive.
I sincerely hope the “secret feedback” will bite liars in the butt, but otherwise, there are people who get in trouble for working too hard and for being too competitive. It’s nice to know there’s a place they can go, because “peculiar” isn’t generally well tolerated in this market.
If the story is accurate, and that’s always questionable with the NYTimes, it sounds like a crappy place to work, especially if you want to have a family. Most success is due to being in the right place at the right time with right idea. As far as management methods go, I prefer Deming.
The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others.
...
When you run a Darwin style business, that’s always going to be a problem. People are more concerned with backstabbing than running the business.
My niece’s husband worked there for a while - said it was horrible and now he works for the Gates Foundation and is extremely content. I remember him describing abusive meetings.
Sheesh - why would you want to spend your life like this? Where I work there is one person on our team who probably would get backstabbing reviews but actually, I’d rather put up with her than deal with the atmosphere described in the article.
““I’m Peculiar””
In all of the jobs where I have worked there simply was no other way for me to work.
Nose to the grindstone and all engines full speed ahead all of the time. But that’s just me.
Others fell to the wayside while I thrived.
I am happy to have been an Amazon customer for years and years. But wouldn’t want to work there.
I worked with a brutal woman dept head...took her abuse for a time as she had jealousy issues as well....but there does come a time when you speak up knowing well it could mean your job.
I did so so much another employee had her hand on the phone to page upper management if the old witch had taken me on...she didn’t of course...when you stand up to these people they usually fold.
My co-worker likes to push work off on other people and gets away with it - we have a relaxed atmosphere - but it’s irritating to watch and then there are no repercussions.
I like to work my butt off - want to be the fastest and the most accurate and smartest, at least that’s my goal. So it bugs me to deal with a slacker. However, I also like to go home at night and forget about it so overall it just is what it is.
It sounds like they suck for blue collar jobs, and reading an article from Salon it sounds like there is a bit of ageism going on, which is not good.
Still and all, there are people what get sacked in other places for stuff Amazon would reward them for.
Except after 20 years Amazon can’t consistently execute profits from its core business.
They eke out a profit one quarter here and there by selling services, which is profitable.
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