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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

#231

Post by [deleted] »

mv4 wrote: post #199
SilverBirch wrote: post #176

To be honest I think 3 days a week in the office is a perfectly reasonable requirement. It gives enough opportunity for people to get face to face time and to build the relationships they need to build whilst still offering flexibility. Should it be combined with some flexibility for edge cases? Sure, managers will always turn a blind eye when it makes sense. And part of that is you can only have flexibility if the b…

One of the reasons I joined Amazon last year was their stance on remote work: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/07/andy-jassy-says-he-wont-forc... For me to go to the nearest office will add 4 hours in commute time daily, and I would still be video conferencing in Chime - as my team is all over the world and nobody is in my office.

[deleted]

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

#232

Post by [deleted] »

offbyone wrote: post #158

If you want my cynical take, here's the real reason that Amazon and other big companies are all-in on RTO: the commercial real estate collapse that may (will?) happen if downtown office districts don't repopulate: https://wapo.st/3QXHpFT I think the reason that Amazon leadership isn't bringing data to support RTO is that not only are they aware of the "Urban Doom Loop” that this article is referring to, but I'd bet y…

[deleted]

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

#233

Post by [deleted] »

softwaredoug wrote: post #177

Given recent Big Tech behavior -- ie Amazon hiring based on work flexibility , then laying people off, then switching to RTO, who would trust these companies enough to move across the country for a role? In my (40 yo+) peer group people have largely settled down somewhere not near a home office during the pandemic. People have the entire cost structure of home ownership, day care, and commuting built around not needi…

[deleted]

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

#235

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #232
offbyone wrote: post #158

If you want my cynical take, here's the real reason that Amazon and other big companies are all-in on RTO: the commercial real estate collapse that may (will?) happen if downtown office districts don't repopulate: https://wapo.st/3QXHpFT I think the reason that Amazon leadership isn't bringing data to support RTO is that not only are they aware of the "Urban Doom Loop” that this article is referring to, but I'd bet y…

[deleted]

[deleted]

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

#236

Post by AtlasBarfed »

softwaredoug wrote: post #177

Given recent Big Tech behavior -- ie Amazon hiring based on work flexibility , then laying people off, then switching to RTO, who would trust these companies enough to move across the country for a role? In my (40 yo+) peer group people have largely settled down somewhere not near a home office during the pandemic. People have the entire cost structure of home ownership, day care, and commuting built around not needi…

Amazon wants to turn over its workforce as much as possible to keep them cheap and young.

This is just another opportunity.

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

#237

Post by AnimalMuppet »

rco8786 wrote: post #183
offbyone wrote: post #158

If you want my cynical take, here's the real reason that Amazon and other big companies are all-in on RTO: the commercial real estate collapse that may (will?) happen if downtown office districts don't repopulate: https://wapo.st/3QXHpFT I think the reason that Amazon leadership isn't bringing data to support RTO is that not only are they aware of the "Urban Doom Loop” that this article is referring to, but I'd bet y…

> C-suite (S-team) has a significant investment in commercial real estate. Amazon itself is holding ~$92B worth of buildings on its balance sheet, you can imagine a large chunk of that is commercial.

So? Is Amazon in the real estate business, or in the software business? Which is more important, the physical assets or the assets that walk out the door every night?

If Amazon is really making decisions for this reason, they have lost the plot.

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

#238

Post by CoastalCoder »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #213
CoastalCoder wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One anecdotal data point: I was contacted last week by an Amazon recruiter. Although I'm unemployed, I didn't pursue that opening because of Amazon's overall reputation. If they still allowed mostly remote work, I would have just told her that I wasn't interested at this time . I.e., if I'm still unemployed in a month, I might suck it up and apply. But the non-WFH policy was the final nail in the coffin. I asked her…

I've heard a lot of developers know that Amazon is a terrible company to work for, but having Amazon on your resume is a career booster. So they'll work there for a year or two just to enhance their future job prospects. Is this still true?

My personal bias is that someone who joined Amazon in the past few years was probably desperate or naive.

But maybe it's just me, not sure.

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

#239

Post by y-c-o-m-b »

SilverBirch wrote: post #176

To be honest I think 3 days a week in the office is a perfectly reasonable requirement. It gives enough opportunity for people to get face to face time and to build the relationships they need to build whilst still offering flexibility. Should it be combined with some flexibility for edge cases? Sure, managers will always turn a blind eye when it makes sense. And part of that is you can only have flexibility if the b…

Your comment seems to be addressing employees that were temporarily virtual and now are required to go into the office. That's not the issue at hand here. Amazon hired employees with jobs that were explicitly stated as being permanently remote and would not be revoked. They have "Virtual Office" listed in the company directory. Those virtual employees are now being asked to relocate to areas where they must also come in 3 days a week. For example an employee working remotely for AWS in Missouri now must uproot their lives and move to Seattle despite the hiring "contract" (using this term loosely) stating the job was fully virtual.
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