The New York Times wrote an expose on what happens to white collar workers at Amazon. They found through interviews that they are overworked and pitted against one another. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian (The Point) hosts of The Young Turks discuss.
What do you think of Amazon’s corporate culture? Does this make a more successful company? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/tec…
“On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon’s singular way of working.
They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.
At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.” The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: “I felt concerned about his inflexibility and openly complaining about minor tasks.”)”
Comments
I apologize in advance for the length of this comment. I had a lot to say.
I was really disappointed in your discussion about the NYT Amazon exposé.
You, Cenk, were very enthusiastic about the 14 Leadership Principles. “I like a lot of what they do. … Hiring the best. Great. Love it. … Leaders in the company should feel ownership in the company for what they do? Love it. … Dive deep. Know your business. Know it. Live it. Breathe it. Love it. … Bias for action. Love it! … Think big. Love it. … As I looked through the 14 Principles, on twelve of them, I was like, these are homeruns.”
See how easy it is to be seduced by the Dark Side?
Ana challenged you—not strongly enough, in my opinion, “Scratch the surface and see how it’s actually applied at Amazon and it’s a completely different story.”
You said, “That sounds terrible, but actually there’s value in it.”
You really seemed to buy into the false dichotomy: Amazon’s hostile and backstabbing culture vs. debilitating politeness.
Dealing in absolutes, Darth Cenk?
You do know that there are plenty of healthy, reasonable, and realistic options between those two extreme dysfunctions, right?
You said, “I don’t think this fosters a good team attitude,” which is a pretty lame and dismissive characterization of the toxic workplace culture described in the NYT article and corroborated in many of the more than 4,000 online comments.
“The company did not cause the miscarriages,” you cautioned, “but, they have, according to this report, not much sympathy for whatever ails you. … that’s not an attitude I’m in favor of.”
Really? That’s not an attitude you’re in favor of? That’s your best response to the specific heart-wrenching personal stories described in the article?
Again, lame and dismissive. Especially, considering the numerous and shockingly egregious claims in the article.
How about this? Amazon should have an explicit policy that values and protects the health and well-being of its employees.
You had an opportunity to be an advocate for workers, but it seemed to me that you were so starstruck that you automatically defended the company, while offhandedly dismissing the accusations, particularly those charged by white collar employees.
Which leads to my last criticism, your thoughtless and emphatic victim-blaming. “For white collar employees, they signed onto this. Nobody put a gun to their head. Nobody made them do it. … They can go anywhere. They sign up for this knowing what they’re gonna get. … Amazon is the place you go if you like that competitive atmosphere. You like to be driven to your maximum potential and a little beyond and that’s what works for our company and that’s what we do. … You’re a human being and get to make that choice. If you make that choice, I’m not gonna cry that much for you.”
First of all, a competitive atmosphere does not have to be an abusive one. A job where you are driven to maximum potential and even a little beyond is, also, not necessarily abusive. Working hard does not have to leave you in tears. Why do you keep insisting that Amazon’s workplace culture is simply competitive and demanding?
The NYT article provided compelling evidence, from more than a hundred current and former employees with many specific personal anecdotes, that the workplace culture at Amazon is hostile and abusive. If you don’t believe the NYT article, then just say so; but you were really trying to sell Amazon’s narrative: This is what working hard, doing your best, pushing yourself to the limit and beyond is; it’s exactly (and only) what Amazon says it is. I’m calling bullshit on that false narrative.
Secondly, I really don’t think that you would say to a victim or survivor of a cult or of domestic violence, “You signed up for this knowing what you were gonna get. No one put a gun to your head.” Maybe you don’t think that an employer/white collar employee relationship can be abusive. If that’s the case, I’d be curious to hear why.
Not to mix my scifi metaphors, but I think you were seduced by the Cyclons. I think the 14 principles lit a fire in your mind and that fire overwhelmed your other senses (and thoughts) in the moment. I think you were sucked in by the passion and energy and excitement of Amazon, of what’s possible when you work at a place like that.
Seduction is how people get drawn in; unfortunately, seduction can blind people to dangers. So, I do sympathize with the victims and survivors, the Amholes, if you will.
Let me be very clear: I do not believe that Amazon is a cult or that Jeff Bezos is knowingly and intentionally abusing his employees. What I think he did was create a workplace culture where hostility and abuse were allowed—in part, because they were not explicitly forbidden—and unchecked, that hostility and abuse have become pervasive and even embedded in the organization itself.
Just my two cents, or maybe a little more …
I’d really like to see/hear TYT’s analysis of Jeff Bezos’ memo in response to the NYT article. I know what I thought when I read it. I have not read or heard what I considered thoughtful commentary about it, yet. I hope you do a follow-up story.
Still a fan, by the way. Thanks for the wonderful work that you all do.
Just re-read and found a typo, dammit! CYLONS not Cyclons!