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Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

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Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#121

Post by lapcat »

Jassy said the quiet part out loud and admitted what I've always suspected, that most CEOs don't have original thoughts, instead governing by groupthink:

> Other company CEOs helped Jassy make up his mind too. Jassy spoke to "60 to 80 CEOs of other companies over the last 18 months," and "virtually all of them" preferred in-office work, he said.

I bet that none of those individual CEOs could empirically prove that remote work is bad, just as Jassy himself could not, but apparently there's strength in numbers.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-andy-jassy-no-data-re...

The CEO herd mentality is why entire industries make the same mistakes simultaneously.

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#122

Post by salawat »

darth_avocado wrote: post #22
SirensOfTitan wrote: post #8

I don't know the origins of the "disagree and commit" philosophy, but Jassy's use seems like a self-serving perversion of what is an attempt at dealing with decision deadlock. ... that is, disagree-and-commit transactionally seems like it ought to be between peers. Disagree-and-commit when applied between superiors and reports could be rewritten as just "shut up and follow orders."

“Disagree and commit” only applies to the side on the lower side of the power dynamics.

Ain't it funny how that works?

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#124

Post by salawat »

jtode wrote: post #101
nielsbot wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This feels like the first time there would be serious impetus (and a perfect case) for tech workers to form a union.

I am incredibly in favour of unions in all industries, but this one I have serious doubts it will ever happen. I'm gonna be un-PC and reach for a metaphor involving slavery - not because I am comparing tech workers, of which I am one, to slaves, but because I think it's the best real-world example of how oppression is distributed by hubristic figureheads of feudalistic systems. If you ever saw Spike Lee's "Malcolm X"…

You aren't that far off. Much of what is in the realm of "management theory" is rehashed from the heady days of slavery if you trace it's inspiration back far enough, at least in the United States.

Basically, if you aren't an independent trades/craftsperson, you're being handled by the same corpus of institutional knowledge that kept ye olde plantation running smoothly. Less outright violence. Still there though.

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#125

Post by cr__ »

catiopatio wrote: post #114
RomanPushkin wrote: post #111

Corporations will do whatever they want to until we have unions in this country. Mass layoffs, termination with no reason, dictating how they want the workforce to be exploited. If this generation cannot see that, I hope younger folks or our kids will make this country a better place to live and work.

Asking salaried employees to spend three days in the office isn’t exploitative, and it’s certainly not equivalent to mass layoffs or termination without cause.

Changing the conditions of employment unilaterally is exploitative, especially within a system in which employment is required to maintain access to health care.

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#126

Post by DaveFr »

Per the NYPost article on this,

> During the meeting, which is known in internal Amazon lingo as a “fishbowl” meeting, Jassy declined to share data that motivated his decision to require employees to return to the office. The CEO told his charges it was a “judgment” call.

Could some brave soul please leak whatever data these guys are seeing? Reports, statistics, even just emails where they whine about empty offices? Something tangible that gives us mere mortals actual perspective.

The conversation is dominated by conspiracy theories about real estate investments and 'CEO vibes', it feels untethered and fact-free.

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#128

Post by WhyNotHugo »

I find the push for "back to the office" one of the most astonishing things to come out of corporate America.

We've basically been moving to a model where people can work from home for a few decades. We're reached a point where it's not only feasible, but it's senseless to do otherwise for many positions.

And then, suddenly and out of the blue, a lot of CEOs and upper management started demanding that employees go back to the office. There's really no reason to do this; data has proven over and over that people can work more productively from home.

Nobody wants to waste time to work in a noisy, less comfortable environment. Yet the lords and dukes of our day demand that the commoners go back to the office or fine subsistence elsewhere. My impression so far is that it's done mostly to filter compliant employees from the more dangerous "free thinkers" which might question senseless commands.

These years are going to be a fascinating read in future history books.

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#129

Post by thebigspacefuck »

DaveFr wrote: post #126

Per the NYPost article on this, > During the meeting, which is known in internal Amazon lingo as a “fishbowl” meeting, Jassy declined to share data that motivated his decision to require employees to return to the office. The CEO told his charges it was a “judgment” call. Could some brave soul please leak whatever data these guys are seeing? Reports, statistics, even just emails where they whine about empty offices?…

I just imagine everyone there is using Chime and it’s not working that well

Re: Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: It’s probably not going to work out

#130

Post by mrfox321 »

lapcat wrote: post #121

Jassy said the quiet part out loud and admitted what I've always suspected, that most CEOs don't have original thoughts, instead governing by groupthink: > Other company CEOs helped Jassy make up his mind too. Jassy spoke to "60 to 80 CEOs of other companies over the last 18 months," and "virtually all of them" preferred in-office work, he said. I bet that none of those individual CEOs could empirically prove that re…

The same group think happened during COVID.

Tech closed up shop on a Wednesday. Finance shut down the following Monday.

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