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Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

seattletimes.com

211–220 of 310 posts

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#211
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely that's a good thing though, if we're preaching meritocracy? Practically speaking it's not so different than how it is currently though (except maybe lower CoL areas in the same country), it's very difficult to have FTE's in foreign countries, I am in a position to feel this very much right now- either you have to do very complex accounting, become a multi-national or they have to be hired as contractors. There…

> I am in a position to feel this very much right now- either you have to do very complex accounting, become a multi-national or they have to be hired as contractors. Have you looked into other services such as "remote.com" to handle international accounting/legal? I am curious but from the employee's perspective.

Yes, its similar to tools like Deel.

They make it a lot easier honestly, walking you through the various hoops, but you are still a contractor which means you must handle your own employee benefits (healthcare etc), social contributions, submit your own taxes (in countries where this is not commonly on the employee this is annoying) and ensure that you are set up as some form of business entity yourself.

In my case that would mean either setting up a one man company or being a “sole trader” under Swedish law.

for PnL purposes as an employer, you would be considered a contractor.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If these middle managers who want "stacks of people to organise and watch over" had any real power, they would have flexed their muscles to prevent layoffs in the first place. When it comes time to trim the fat, executive management isn't going to take any backtalk from mere middle managers trying to build empires.

Isn't it all the way up though? The VP's don't want to lose head count either, thats how they measure their empire.

High level management at FAANGs (aside from cost centers) are rewarded for their organization being profitable or on a quick trajectory to becoming profitable, not the size of their empire, mate. They will mercilessly cut headcount without losing a second of sleep to stay on the right side of profitability, particularly when times are tough.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon has a reputation of being frugal to the point of stupidity (e.g. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-use-frupidi... ) so that tired conspiracy theory especially doesn't hold water for them. Amazon wouldn't give a hoot about the opinions of "building management, HR, middle managers", etc. if anyone there could make a solid business case that increasing WFH would significantly improve their bottom l…

Been with Amazon for over a decade. The frupidity used to be a huge sore spot, but being honest, is no longer a part of the culture. Sure, there are no catered buffets or massage chairs, but the old inflexible rigid frupid systems are all gone. Engineers get top of the line M1 Macbooks, nice monitors and good chairs. The desks are all adjustable sit/stand, not doors. You can get and expense whatever software you need…

Top of the line? When I started a year ago I was told to specifically not opt for the Windows laptops because they ship garbage HP units with 8 gigs of RAM as standard

Only to be then shipped a base M1 Macbook with 8 gigs of RAM anyway!

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#214
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5 years at senior level means 8 plus years in industry and you actually have to be promoted to seniority and it has to be at a company that actually pays well. It is far beyond reasonable considering the value that developers provide. So yeah, I think you're completely wrong.

Funny how senior came to be "has worked three years". Isn't it?

I also said "and you actually have to be promoted to [it]"

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how now is never the right time. It's always just gone or some time soon .

My good man, you are responding to an actual union organizer who actually spent the recent boom years doing "now is the right time" work at software companies, at the actual right time.

This is really interesting! What motivated you to start? It’s not like SWE are poorly treated on the scale of all professions. Do you predict some really bad times after the boom times?

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#216

The danger of any walkout is that you won't be allowed to walk back in. The time for useful collective action was back when tech companies couldn't hire fast enough, and tech employees enjoyed unusual leverage. After 27,000 layoffs, a performative walkout without a defined goal is just making it easier for Amazon management as they plan the next round of cuts.

If the number is a large enough percentage they couldn't do a lockout. While it may be an industry-wide supply side problem for employees you can't just fire a huge portion of the staff and hire new people and expect things to just keep on truckin', losing that much institutional knowledge would be suicide.

Tell that to Twitter.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> these jobs will be moved out to India. You mean just like the other thousand times people said this over the decades?

Wonder how many people insisting that software jobs in the US are safe from foreign competition drive Japanese cars, use motherboards and top end CPUs designed and manufactured in Taiwan, use South Korean manufactured DRAM, and use other high tech products pioneered in western countries that are now largely engineered and manufactured outside of the west?

That’s why my wife and I live way below our means. To the point where my wife could just stop working and we’d still be fine (we bank her income and more). If our paychecks got cut in half tomorrow it means we can survive.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#218

I'm always surprised to see this much desire to work from home all the time. The way I see it. Given a few years, every work from home job will be outsource to some country where the pay is less. Companies are all about cutting costs. If a job can be done at home then it can be done from anywhere in the world. Why not hire the least expensive workforce?

Are language and communication skills, timezone, cultural willingness to disagree with bad decisions / report bad news, diligence, and UX skills are fungible? Either they are, and every company has somehow overlooked them, or they aren’t, and years of failed outsourcing experiments has shown this.

Ousource market is just a market. You will get (to some degree) what you are paying for.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#219
> to show their frustration with recent layoffs, return-to-office mandates and a lack of action to address the company’s impact on climate change

Now one only has to add social justice, marriage equality, immigration policy and saving the whales, and the mission of making it impossible to understand what it is about will be accomplished.

Dudes, it's OK to be upset by just RTO, you don't have to bring the whole list every time.

Re: Seattle Amazon workers plan walkout over return to office, layoffs

#220

I'm always surprised to see this much desire to work from home all the time. The way I see it. Given a few years, every work from home job will be outsource to some country where the pay is less. Companies are all about cutting costs. If a job can be done at home then it can be done from anywhere in the world. Why not hire the least expensive workforce?

Any competent dev from those cheaper countries has already long since moved into countries or at the very least managed to negotiate deals where they get paid pretty much on-par with richer countries. The only ones left at this point aren't exactly the shining jewels of productivitt, of they're willing to settle for a pittance.
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