The exchanges are much better then nothing but aren’t great. Alternative autoimmune disease so let’s say diabetes(example IBD) are not covered with out huge deductibles. I know because I have experienced this.
My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
181–190 of 344 posts
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#182Believe it or not, this isn't a rare attitude among managers at Amazon. A significant percentage of SDMs believe they must "keep a high bar" and remove any dissenting subordinates. Word has gotten out about it, mostly on the blind app, which forced Amazon to raise pay bands for engineers 50-100k. This is costing the company a lot of money. The difference going forwards for Amazon is that the stock is mostly stagnant,…
The reality is that the SDMs are cogs in the machine as well.
If a director asks the SDM why an employee isn't performing, and the SDM responds with any reason that doesn't support the organisation's goals, the director / VP is going to ask the SDM to get rid of the employee to meet Amazon's infamous URA quota[1]. If the SDM refuses, they are going to find another SDM who will do the job.
At the same time, the following is also true
> A significant percentage of SDMs believe they must "keep a high bar" and remove any dissenting subordinates.
> The difference going forwards for Amazon is that the stock is mostly stagnant, and so employees are no longer putting up with miserable harsh working conditions, the financial incentives are no longer there.
This is why Amazon is now importing a lot of international engineers, especially from Amazon India. Employees on L1 visa can't refuse the harsh working conditions, unless they are willing to take a huge pay cut and move back.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
It shouldn't be the reality in a society with the amount of wealth ours has.
If you make mid six-figures and can’t put together an emergency fund that is on you. He could have made different life choices and spent time with his wife in her last moments rather than slaving away at work.
Cancer treatment often goes up over a million, sometimes into millions
Perhaps you're unaware of that, but do you still expect somebody making six figures to be able to have that emergency fund just sitting around?
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#184And this is why Amazon is a 1.6 trillion dollar company.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#185> I’d never want him to go through it because it was so painful.
I never really sympathized with this train of thought. I see nothing wrong with wishing equal pain on this boss who refused to have any human empathy. Maybe he'd learn some needed humility.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Companies employ people. People have problems. Firing people, or forcing out people, when they have problems, doesn't sound like a very good place to work. Sure, it'd be great if my workplace kept paying me $300k even if I was under-preforming because of personal issues. However, how realistic is this expectation? Are there any places that keep under-preforming employees for half a decade, or more?
Are you arguing that no tech company has employees in most of Europe? It's very expensive to terminate people for cause in Scandinavian countries, France and the England. Just because we don't do it in the US, doesn't mean they aren't doing it.
I expect that this is also why there are fewer tech companies in Europe than in the US, and why software developer salaries are much lower in Europe than in the US. Companies can't afford to pay top dollar (er, euro) when they have to hedge against being unable to fire employees who aren't doing their work.
Not saying either situation is better or worse overall; I expect there are winners and losers in both systems. Or, likely more accurately, the European system creates few big winners, but also few (or no) big losers, whereas the US system gives you the opportunity to be a big winner, but you could also end up homeless.
Personally I'm happy with how the US system has worked out for me, but I'm sure there are some people who feel the opposite.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#187A tip: If anyone finds themselves in a tragic situation like this where they can’t work but also can’t afford to take leave, investigate your short and long-term disability benefits ASAP. Also read up on the documentation necessary to begin disability claims. Engage with a doctor early on who can document the severe depressive symptoms that are preventing work (which the author specifically cites in his anecdote). Do…
In the United States, here is a starting point for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla
You have to also check your specific state law and go from there. I would google "FMLA " for example.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If I was a plumber, and my wife was dying, and as a result I was unable to repair plumbing, I would not expect anyone to give me money to repair their plumbing, not even if I told them my wife is dying and they should be sympathetic. When I filed for paternity leave, I was paid quite a few weeks for not working at all, because the country where I live understands that workers are people who have lives and struggle…
> When I filed for paternity leave, I was paid quite a few weeks for not working at all, because the country where I live understands that workers are people who have lives and struggle with major life events. No country has this kind of benefits for plumbers who are mostly independent.
> No country has this kind of benefits for plumbers who are mostly independent.
How about Amazon SDEs?
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#189I'm disappointed at how widespread this seems to be. My mother died earlier this year. When I asked my boss at our series b startup for leave her response was, "do you really need this much time, its the end of the quarter." I told her that I did actually want 2 weeks to grieve the loss of my mother and she never responded. When I returned to work, she had never told HR that my mother died. HR didn't understand why I…
Assuming you told HR that your mother had died as to the why, how did HR respond given their ignorance of your situation?
Note: Condolences for your loss.
Re: My Wife Was Dying of Brain Cancer. My Boss at Amazon Told Me to Perform or Quit
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Companies employ people to do work . That is the fundamental nature of the relationship. Some leeway is to be expected for temporary fluctuations in the work being done. But in the long term, if the work is no longer being performed at the agreed upon level, the company is not obligated to continue paying the person. In a sense, blaming the company becomes kind of a distraction from the real issue, which is that in t…
To your point, corporations would be happy to have the government take over those functions. But, these are solvable problems. For example, there is no doubt that HR knew that long-term and short term disabilities were options. Google has a death benefit for the spouse and kids, under 21. Top tech companies that have money to burn could probably figure out how to keep you on insurance, as a benefit, during leave. How…
> corporations would be happy to have the government take over those functions.
Is this really true? I would think so, too, but if it were, wouldn't we see a flood of companies in the US lobbying Congress to create a government-backed healthcare option, or even single-payer? To the point where it would have been done decades ago, right-wing political ideology be damned?
The cynical part of me wonders if companies like the current situation, since that gives companies more power over their employees.