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☆ Recent updates for Amazon return to office policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Previous pronouncements about the revolutionary benefits of remote work have been replaced by vague, data-light arguments on productivity gains from being in the office. Apple, Meta, Bloomberg and Google all have gleaming HQs that would look very silly if those companies continued to embrace remote work. Insider has asked Amazon for comment on its RTO policy several times in recent months and the company has responded. AdvertisementAdvertisementAn internal guideline, obtained by Insider, listed Amazon office locations and the dates they are expected to be fully "ready" to support the RTO mandate. That's what some Amazon employees have done by mocking the company's RTO policy and its famous leadership principles.

Persons: Brad Glasser, there's, we've, Amazon's, LINDSEY WASSON, Andy Jassy, Slack, Beth Galetti, Al Drago, Paul Vixie, Andy Jassy's, Mike Hopkins, Hopkins, Elaine Thompson, snafu, they'd Organizations: Amazon, Tech, Meta, Bloomberg, Google, Seattle, Reuters, Amazon SVP, Human, Services, Company, Amazon Video Locations: Seattle, Seattle , Washington , U.S, Beth Galetti REUTERS, Seattle , New York, Houston, Austin , Texas

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy now has 16 direct reports. See the growing and evolving list here, including a newly promoted executive from Alexa.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently expanded his group of direct reports. Jassy has added at least 8 new executives to his direct reports since becoming CEO in 2021. Amazon recently created a new AI group that reports to CEO Andy Jassy. In his 2 years since becoming CEO, Jassy has added or replaced at least 8 executives in his top leadership team. (Jassy's direct reports are different from the S-team, a group of more than two dozen most senior decision-makers at Amazon).

Persons: Andy Jassy, Rohit Prasad, Prasad, Doug Herrington, Adam Selipsky, Brian Olsavsky, Jassy, There's, Dave Clark, Jay Carney, Jeff Blackburn, James Hamilton, Mike Hopkins, Eric Remling, Beth, Dave Limp, David Zapolsky, Drew Herdener, WW Communications Eric Rimling, Paul Kotas, Peter Krawiec, Alexa Stacey Pistole, Steve Boom, Steve Schmidt, Eugene Kim Organizations: Amazon, Alexa, Business, Amazon Studios, Amazon Devices, WW Amazon, WW Communications, Amazon Video, Corporate Locations: It's

☆ Leaked messages show Amazon will force a 'voluntary resignation' on employees failing to relocate near their team 'hubs'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon is asking employees to relocate to the "hub" office of their individual teams. Amazon employees who refuse to relocate near the "hub" office of their teams will either have to find a new job internally or leave the company through a "voluntary resignation." Under the initial return-to-office policy, Amazon employees could go into any office at least three times a week, regardless of where the majority of their team was. Some employees told Insider that made office work pointless because many still had to use video calls to connect with their teammates. Still, the change only adds to the frustration Amazon employees face.

Persons: Slack, Andy Jassy, Brad Glasser, there's, we've, Glasser, Amazon, it's, Amazon's, Beth Galetti, doesn't, Eugene Kim Organizations: Amazon, Employees, Amazon's Locations: Seattle , New York, Houston, Austin

☆ 'Oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?' Employees who can't commute to their assigned offices fear the consequences.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Change in remote statusSome Amazon employees hired during the pandemic said they were promised permanent remote work, through what they saw as a "handshake agreement." One employee shared their vice president's email in the Slack channel, saying this manager was willing to be more flexible. People walk into the lobby of Amazon offices in New York. Over 30,000 Amazon employees joined an internal Slack channel shortly after the RTO announcement and signed a petition to demand a reversal of the mandate. "Amazon, oh Amazon, why are you making this issue so difficult?"

Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky and human resources head Beth Galetti sent notes to staffers informing them of the job cuts. I wanted to let you know that conversations with impacted AWS employees started today, with notification messages sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees. To those to whom we are saying goodbye today, thank you for everything you have done for this business and our customers. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

☆ Amazon's rush to bring employees back to office stirs anxiety over badge tracking, relocation, and impact on performance reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

this person asked in the Slack channel called "remote-advocacy," according to a screenshot seen by Insider. Change in remote statusSome Amazon employees hired during the pandemic said they were promised permanent remote work, through what they saw as a "handshake agreement." One employee shared their vice president's email in the Slack channel, saying this manager was willing to be more flexible. People walk into the lobby of Amazon offices in New York. Over 30,000 Amazon employees joined an internal Slack channel shortly after the RTO announcement and signed a petition to demand a reversal of the mandate.

☆ Read the memo Amazon's HR chief sent rejecting employees' petition against the new return-to-office policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Eugene Kim | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon's HR chief formally rejected an internal petition asking Amazon to reverse its return-to-office policy. Read the full text of Galetti's message to employees below. The petition, which was shared with CEO Andy Jassy's leadership team last week according to Galetti's note, was signed by roughly 30,000 employees. Employees shared messages of disappointment on the company's Slack channel following Galetti's announcement. Read the full text of Galetti's message below:Hello all –Andy's team shared your note last week, and I wanted to take a moment to follow up directly.

☆ Amazon’s head of HR rejects employees’ return-to-office petition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beth Galetti, the company's HR head, formally responded to a letter that gathered ~30,000 employee signatures. Galetti wrote in her email that Amazon's guiding principle is to "make our customers' lives better and easier every day." My colleague Eugene Kim obtained Galetti's full email and walks us through how Amazon employees feel about the response. In other news:MSCHF's Tax Heaven 3000 dating simulator is supposed to help you prepare your 2022 US federal tax return. Carta offers popular software to help employees manage their equity.

☆ In a leaked message, Amazon's HR chief flatly rejected an internal petition against the new return-to-office policy signed by roughly 30,000 employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Top HR executive Beth Galettie denied an internal petition asking Amazon to reverse its new return-to-office policy. Roughly 30,000 Amazon employees signed the petition protesting the new RTO mandate. Amazon's top HR executive formally rejected an internal petition put forth by roughly 30,000 employees over the company's new return-to-office policy. Galetti's message was in response to an internal petition signed by roughly 30,000 Amazon employees that followed the RTO mandate announcement last month. In the petition, Amazon employees argued, citing research, that remote work improved productivity, recruitment, work/life balance, inclusion efforts and reduced corporate expenses.

☆ Amazon pledged to be Earth's Best Employer. Employees say it's just a 'marketing gimmick' as executives perpetuate the same toxic work culture.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The company even added the slogan "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer" to its set of 16 leadership principles it religiously follows. But 18 months into the launch, employees say the Earth's Best Employer project is off to a bad start. He added that the Earth's Best Employer initiative should focus on creating a meritocracy and long-term goals for the company. For many Amazon employees, the lack of transparency during last month's layoffs seemed to contradict the company's best employer credo. As the economy worsens, some employees believe Amazon's Earth's Best Employer initiative was all just a "marketing gimmick."

☆ Big Tech's wipeout sends workers scrambling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Up first: I just returned to New York after a few days in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. It was intense and informative, packed with meetings with business leaders and government ministers from around the world. Davos, Switzerland Hanna Erasmus and EyeEm/Getty ImagesMore than 1,500 business leaders descended on Davos in the Swiss Alps last week. Saumya Khandelwal/Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesIt was a wipeout at Silicon Valley's tech giants this week.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google announced layoffs of a total of 40,000 employees this week. Tech companies embarked on a massive hiring spree as the Covid-era made their products the backbone of the world's remote-working offices. The era of tech companies spending like rock stars is overOver the last decade Big Tech companies spent money "like 1980's rock stars," wrote Dan Ives, managing director at the investment firm Wedbush . On the other end, tech companies may look much different this decade as they did in the last. As companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft cut costs, they'll find ways to operate leaner, and their stock prices will stabilize.

☆ Here are the layoff severance packages Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other tech giants have promised
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Laid-off employees would also have "at least" 16 weeks of share vesting accelerated, Pichai said in a memo to employees. Benefit-eligible U.S. employees are to receive severance, six months of healthcare and stock vesting, and 60 days of notice, Nadella wrote. Human resources head Beth Galetti said the company will offer a separation payment, health benefits as applicable by country and job placement. This matters to Amazon employees, as the company's compensation has historically been weighted heavily to stock. Benioff's letter to employees also said that laid-off employees would receive health insurance benefits and career resources for an unclear duration.

☆ Microsoft layoffs show that no tech company is safe to work at right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Wednesday, Amazon started its largest round of layoffs in company history after giving employees the heads up that they were coming two weeks earlier. I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and today, we dive into why all Big Tech employees are at risk of losing their jobs. Microsoft's layoffs proves that there is no such thing as a safe tech company to work at right now. The list of tech layoffs is long: Facebook, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, Salesforce, Microsoft, and more. The SVP of People Experience and Technology sent two missives on the first official days of Amazon layoffs.

☆ Read the memos Amazon execs sent to employees about job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Employees were notified of the cuts in emails sent by Doug Herrington, the company's worldwide retail chief, and human resources head Beth Galetti, CNBC confirmed. Amazon's human resources and stores divisions are likely to be among the organizations most severely impacted by the job cuts. Notification emails will be sent out to impacted employees shortly, and we expect all notifications in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica to be completed by end of the day today. Although other companies might have balked at the short-term economics, we prioritized investing for customers and employees during these unprecedented times. Conversations with impacted employees took place around the world today, and this morning, Pacific Time, notification messages were sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica.

☆ Leaked documents show Amazon paused activities like social marketing and recruiting 'out of respect' for laid off employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has suspended a number of work activities or services on Wednesday amid layoffs. Amazon suspended several work activities and services on Wednesday to be more mindful of the employees let go as part of the company's largest layoff in history. Additionally, Amazon suspended some AWS content streams on Twitch, another person said. Amazon will also pause some recruiting activities on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Still, many Amazon employees were upset about the ambiguity and lack of communication in the overall layoff process.

☆ Read the emails Amazon's HR and retail bosses sent to employees as its largest layoff in company history starts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Amazon's HR and retail bosses sent out the following emails to employees on Wednesday. In response, Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti and most senior retail executive Doug Herrington sent out the following emails to their respective teams. I understand how difficult this news is for our entire team, especially for those employees who are directly impacted. Notification emails will be sent out to impacted employees shortly, and we expect all notifications in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica to be completed by end of the day today. Although other companies might have balked at the short-term economics, we prioritized investing for customers and employees during these unprecedented times.

☆ As Amazon conducts its largest layoff, its HR boss sent another email to employees urging 'support and care' for those laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Beth Galetti, Amazon's HR boss, sent an email asking employees to show support for those affected. As Amazon embarked on the largest layoffs in company history, HR boss Beth Galetti urged employees to show support for each other. In her email, Galetti reiterated that most of the layoffs will affect the retail division (Amazon Stores) and HR (People Experience and Technology). Conversations with impacted employees took place around the world today, and this morning, Pacific Time, notification messages were sent to all impacted employees in the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica. In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees.

☆ Amazon employees learned they were laid off by email, not a face-to-face with managers or HR. Read the email they were sent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon notified laid-off employees by email only, not face-to-face meetings, multiple sources said. Amazon started reaching out to laid-off employees on Wednesday by email as the company embarked on the largest job cuts in company history. Employees were individually notified just by email, not by face-to-face meetings with their respective managers or with human resources personnel, according to five people who spoke to Insider. Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti told employees on Wednesday that those affected will soon have meetings with their leaders, as Insider previously reported. Access to internal email, Chime, and AtoZ will be available on your non-Amazon device throughout the remainder of your tenure.

☆ Amazon is quietly streamlining its hiring process by dropping its 'Bar Raiser' program for some interviews. Employees worry it's lowering the quality of candidates getting jobs at the company.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

By abandoning the bar raiser for some mostly entry-level positions, Amazon shortened the hiring process and was able to hire more aggressively. In January 2021, for example, a group of bar raisers complained about the small number of bar raisers relative to the total employee base, and the lack of engagement from many of them. Current Bar raisers are overworked and disengagedOthers expressed concerns about overwhelmed or disengaged bar raisers causing a potential drop in talent at Amazon. One person in the 2021 email thread said "Amazon's hiring bar was at stake" if the bar raisers failed to live up to company standards. Amazon's HR chief Beth Galetti said Amazon's hiring bar "keeps getting higher and higher" and that "keeps all of us growing and evolving every day."

☆ A key executive involved in Amazon's 'earth's best employer' initiative was investigated by the company after allegations that she created a hostile work environment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

An executive involved in Amazon's "earth's best employer" initiative was recently investigated by the company after multiple employees alleged she created a hostile work environment, according to people familiar with the situation. Hastings' team of researchers, data scientists, and economists is generally tasked with studying and improving workplace culture across Amazon. The company's investigation lasted several months, much longer than the typical few weeks, seven people familiar with the investigation told Insider. We thoroughly investigate and take action where necessary," the spokesperson for Amazon told Insider. Those deemed to be underperforming are put into Amazon's Focus system.

☆ Alphabet's DeepMind has put a hiring freeze on new interns, canceling one applicant's interview with just an hour's notice
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

DeepMind said it is pausing the hiring of new interns while it reviews its "strategic priorities." Another said she is "gutted" that it froze hiring and said the "tech hiring freeze is hitting hard." The candidate wrote: "Disappointed & shocked to hear that DeepMind 'paused' intern hiring and canceled all scheduled interviews, just one hour before my interview ... Another aspiring DeepMind intern tweeted that she was "gutted" to hear about the freeze as she had made it to the final round of the hiring process. "The tech hiring freeze is hitting hard," she added.

☆ Amazon has halted most internal transfers as it slashes positions, leaving workers scrambling to find new jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon has frozen internal transfers, making it hard for some laid-off workers to find new jobs. Employees who had transfers in progress in the past month have had those job changes halted, one Amazon employee said. Amazon will continue to backfill openings created by attrition, Galetti wrote, "and there are some targeted places" where Amazon will continue to create new jobs. The company gave the hundreds of impacted employees three months to find a new job inside Amazon and promised assistance on their internal job hunt. Two other workers whose roles were cut said they found new jobs internally, one through an internal job fair that Amazon hosted.

☆ What the wave of tech layoffs tell us about the economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Tech companies are announcing an alarming number of layoffs and hiring freezes. ▸ Lyft (LYFT) said last Thursday that it will lay off 13% of its employees, or nearly 700 people, as it rethinks staffing amid rising inflation and fears of a looming recession. But other companies won’t be immune to the softening demand from consumers and businesses that tech companies have noted. It doesn’t help that the uncertainty around the platform comes at a bad time for ad revenue-dependent tech companies. More potential supply chain woesThe threat of a US rail strike that could disrupt supply chains is still very real.

Lyft confirmed its plans Thursday to lay off 13% of its workforce, equivalent to about 700 employees, as the broader downturn in once high-flying tech companies persists. An emerging trendStill, Lyft's announcement adds to the broader trend of hiring freezes and job cuts across the tech industry. Amazon announced Thursday it will pause hiring within its corporate workforce, citing the increasingly "uncertain" economy and the company's spate of new hires in recent years. The payments company Stripe announced Thursday it was cutting 14% of its workforce, equivalent to approximately 1,100 workers. The tech sector had come through a significant portion of the pandemic seeing roaring growth.

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