8/27/2015 Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Replies to Criticism on Workplace Policies Digits WSJ
August 17, 2015, 12:16 PM ET Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Replies to Criticism on Workplace Policies
ByBrian R. Fitzgerald
Jeff Bezos Ted S. Warren/Associated Press With tech giants thriving and startups flush with cash, competition for tech talent is fierce. Which is why Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos says it’s illogical to think he designed the company to grind white collar employees into dust. Mr. Bezos issued a companywide memo in response to a cutting New York Times article over the weekend.
The Times account was filled with jarring accounts of a hypercompetitive atmosphere where health emergencies are depicted as inconvenient and employees can use an internal tool to conspire against each other and dish to the bosses. It’s a litany of hardtoread tales from the upper ranks at a company that already has suffered a hit to its reputation over stories about its treatment of warehouse workers.
In the memo, Mr. Bezos says the company portrayed in the article doesn’t resemble one he knows, let alone one he would ever work for. It paints a “dystopian” picture, Mr. Bezos writes, and it is illogical: “I don’t think any company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in today’s highly competitive tech hiring market.” http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/08/17/amazoncomsbezosrepliestostingingcriticismonworkplacepolicies/tab/print/ 1/3 8/27/2015 Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Replies to Criticism on Workplace Policies Digits WSJ GeekWire has the full memo, which Amazon has confirmed as authentic. Amazon declined to comment beyond the memo. Here it is:
Dear Amazonians,
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to give this (very long) New York Times article a careful read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside amazonwrestlingbigideasinabruisingworkplace.html
I also encourage you to read this very different take by a current Amazonian:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amazoniansresponseinside amazonwrestlingbigideasnickciubotariu
Here’s why I’m writing you. The NYT article prominently features anecdotes describing shockingly callous management practices, including people being treated without empathy while enduring family tragedies and serious health problems. The article doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day. But if you know of any stories like those reported, I want you to escalate to HR. You can also email me directly at [email protected]. Even if it’s rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such lack of empathy needs to be zero.
The article goes further than reporting isolated anecdotes. It claims that our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had and no laughter heard. Again, I don’t recognize this Amazon and I very much hope you don’t, either. More broadly, I don’t think any company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in today’s highly competitive tech hiring market. The people we hire here are the best of the best. You are recruited every day by other worldclass companies, and you can work anywhere you want. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/08/17/amazoncomsbezosrepliestostingingcriticismonworkplacepolicies/tab/print/ 2/3 8/27/2015 Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Replies to Criticism on Workplace Policies Digits WSJ
I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a company.
But hopefully, you don’t recognize the company described. Hopefully, you’re having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent the future, and laughing along the way.
Thank you,
Jeff
Copyright 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For nonpersonal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 18008430008 or visit www.djreprints.com
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/08/17/amazoncomsbezosrepliestostingingcriticismonworkplacepolicies/tab/print/ 3/3