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Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

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Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#31

Post by amzn1691681962 »

x86x87 wrote: post #18
yellow_lead wrote: post #13

Just let your coworker/friend swipe in for you. If they can't tell otherwise, does it really matter? *Not financial advice

Lol. Based on chats with a buddy that [still] work there, in [most] a lot of buildings they have a system sort of like the subway. Swipe, door open, you pass through, door close. There isba sensor that can tell if you went in. You also swipe in and out of the building. So not only they know you were there, they know for how long. From a business security point of view this makes sense. You want to know who is in the…

> everyone got the email. Not a single soul they talked to met the "quota"

As an Amazon employee who has been RTO'ing 3 days a week like a good corporate drone, I can absolutely attest that this is not true. It does seem like the query used didn't take things like time-off or holidays though either.

My anecdote - there are MANY director level managers who are against RTO and thought they could just turn a blind eye and message to their org "I am not keeping track of this so don't worry."

I pointed out to MY director that I didn't think it was going to be in their power to turn a blind eye. They would get some sort of report with tough questions attached, directly from their manager or higher. Turns out I am still Right A Lot.

I'm guessing your friend has a director with a similar mindset who is finding out the harsh reality of the situation themself now. They have no control over this. Every manager (L6 - L8) I've talked with about this was both unaware this was happening and pissed off because they were removed from the communication chain with their team.

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#33

Post by alex-nt »

This week I went to the office (not Amazon, another company in Europe) for 3 days in a row because we had new-joiners and I wanted to make it easier for them in the beginning. I live near the office, just a 15m walk away, and I would still not like to continue 3D/W. I know, people call it entitlement, but my problem is that the office is a hostile environment. Here is my experience, in an office that was at most 30% capacity, in a 3Y old building:

  - The "kitchen" area is so tiny, if you want water you will queue, there are only 2 places on the whole floor where you can get it and they are tiny rooms where at max 5 ppl could enter, 3 comfortably.

  - Queues at the bathroom, there are 2 stalls, for the whole floor, I couldn't find another one (I really hope there is one more, I just failed to find it, I did ask, nobody knew about another one). This got worse and worse as the week progressed. I've noticed a similar issue at my previous employer (5Y old building, part of why I left, health issues that are greatly improved by the access to a toilet)

  - They implemented some eco-friendly lights, with movement sensors. This sounds great and I am for helping the environment, the problem is that in practice these lights turn on-off every few minutes, during the day, in summer, in a sunlight filled building. My eyes were so tired every EOD.

  - In the same eco-friendly manner they made the AC not run during the night and morning. So, if you respected the work schedule and came to the office in the morning it was hotter than outside. It's summer, we had 30C in the morning, 47C in the afternoon. I needed to wait for 1-2h for the AC to kick in and recover after arriving in the office.
I am conflicted, I did see that the new-joiners liked the in-person meetings and all, and I do get it. It is easier for non-experienced people to talk to new colleagues online if they have some interactions before. But, time after time, as my employers change buildings I see always reductions in common areas/bathrooms/etc. I find it hilarious now that I have to research the building of potential employers and ask them if they plan to move out in the next 1-3Y (more and more jobs no longer offer remote work in my area).

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#34

Post by x86x87 »

amzn1691681962 wrote: post #31
x86x87 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol. Based on chats with a buddy that [still] work there, in [most] a lot of buildings they have a system sort of like the subway. Swipe, door open, you pass through, door close. There isba sensor that can tell if you went in. You also swipe in and out of the building. So not only they know you were there, they know for how long. From a business security point of view this makes sense. You want to know who is in the…

> everyone got the email. Not a single soul they talked to met the "quota" As an Amazon employee who has been RTO'ing 3 days a week like a good corporate drone, I can absolutely attest that this is not true. It does seem like the query used didn't take things like time-off or holidays though either. My anecdote - there are MANY director level managers who are against RTO and thought they could just turn a blind eye a…

You got my attention until the "right a lot bit". What happened to earn trust or being data driven?

Imho, they are gonna reap the results of what they sow foe years to come.

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#35

Post by housemusicfan »

sapiogram wrote: post #9

What a bizarre article. How can an employer not be allowed to keep track of when you work?

It reads like an Onion headline. "Gen Z learns their badges can be used to track their movements. Said one employee: 'This is not OK!'"

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#36

Post by late2part »

alex-nt wrote: post #33

This week I went to the office (not Amazon, another company in Europe) for 3 days in a row because we had new-joiners and I wanted to make it easier for them in the beginning. I live near the office, just a 15m walk away, and I would still not like to continue 3D/W. I know, people call it entitlement, but my problem is that the office is a hostile environment. Here is my experience, in an office that was at most 30%…

A long long time ago, I initiated a project to move 80% of the SaaS company's workload out of a big cloud provider that is fond of 3 day in office work weeks into privately run data center cages. To be clear, we bought and ran the computers, rented the network and the cages/rooms in the data center buildings/campuses.

One of our grading criteria was how many bathroom stalls and urinals they had in the men's and women's bathrooms.

Some of these places had 200k sqft (20k m^2) and just 1 stall. No bueno!!!

When we were evaluatin the sites/locations (in the early days) we had to queue our 8 folks up for 5-20 min for bathroom breaks before we could go to lunch!

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#37

Post by housemusicfan »

alex-nt wrote: post #33

This week I went to the office (not Amazon, another company in Europe) for 3 days in a row because we had new-joiners and I wanted to make it easier for them in the beginning. I live near the office, just a 15m walk away, and I would still not like to continue 3D/W. I know, people call it entitlement, but my problem is that the office is a hostile environment. Here is my experience, in an office that was at most 30%…

Your chief complaints (eco friendly everything in new construction, AC restrictions) are likely due to compliance with local laws. I would suggest to choose wisely when electing your political leaders. In fact California has a requirement for half the cubicle outlets in new offices to be on timers that shut off during "non-working" hours.

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#39

Post by soligern »

taeric wrote: post #23
fnordpiglet wrote: post #20

At a prior megacorp that I just quit from for their return to office strategy people would come into the office, swipe their badge at the entrance, log in to their machine, lock the screen, and go home to work.

A lot of places have badge in and out readers nowadays. Bolted in during pandemic to "help make sure we don't have too many people in the office for safety." Kept because of course it was kept.

I mean you could just follow someone else out. Alternatively leave, stand outside to badge in and then never enter.

Re: Amazon tracks and targets US staff over 3 days in office rule

#40

Post by Goronmon »

housemusicfan wrote: post #37
alex-nt wrote: post #33

This week I went to the office (not Amazon, another company in Europe) for 3 days in a row because we had new-joiners and I wanted to make it easier for them in the beginning. I live near the office, just a 15m walk away, and I would still not like to continue 3D/W. I know, people call it entitlement, but my problem is that the office is a hostile environment. Here is my experience, in an office that was at most 30%…

Your chief complaints (eco friendly everything in new construction, AC restrictions) are likely due to compliance with local laws. I would suggest to choose wisely when electing your political leaders. In fact California has a requirement for half the cubicle outlets in new offices to be on timers that shut off during "non-working" hours.

Your chief complaints (eco friendly everything in new construction, AC restrictions) are likely due to compliance with local laws.

More likely that these are cost-cutting measures being labeled as "eco-friendly" to avoid push back.

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