DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Google workers fired for Israel contract protests claim terminations were illegal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google employees who were fired for protesting the company's work with Israel have gone to the NLRB. AdvertisementGoogle workers who were fired for protesting against the company's cloud contract with the Israeli government filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday. Last month, Google said that it fired 28 employees for staging in-office protests in New York City and Sunnyvale, California. But Google told BI last month that the company's work was not directed at highly sensitive or classified military projects relevant to weapons or intelligence services. AdvertisementThe ongoing dispute between Google and some of its employees highlights companies' tricky balance between their business interests and their workers' desire for self-expression.

Persons: —, Nimbus, Rob Munoz Organizations: Google, Service, National Labor Relations Board, Business, NLRB, BI, Amazon, Protesters, Washington Post, Nimbus, Post Locations: Israel, New York City, Sunnyvale , California, Gaza

☆ AWS VP tells employees that the departures of senior engineers are 'making us better,' leaked transcript shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Amazon Web Services employees are concerned about a large number of departures among its senior engineers. At last month's internal staff meeting for AWS, VP of infrastructure services Prasad Kalyanaraman answered an employee question about turnover among senior engineers, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Business Insider. It is one of the many challenges AWS employees are currently dealing with, alongside slowing growth and a more bureaucratic culture, as BI previously reported . As we've previously told Insider, attrition among AWS employees has declined in recent years and to suggest anything otherwise is inaccurate. Amazon unveiled Amazon Q this week, an AI chatbot for businesses, and previously launched CodeWhisperer, a coding assistant for developers.

Persons: Prasad Kalyanaraman, Kalyanaraman, Rob Munoz, we've, Prasad, Munoz, Peter DeSantis, DeSantis, Charlie Bell, Rachel Thornton, Chris Vonderhaar Organizations: Web Services, Business, Amazon's, AWS

☆ AI fatigue, sales challenges, and the problem of getting big: Inside growing tension at AWS
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

For Amazon, AWS is more important than ever. Targets missedAWS is falling short of reaching sales goals in its startups and small-business segments, two employees told BI. Burnout and attritionSeveral AWS employees also pointed to high turnover as a major point of concern. AWS employees told BI it still remains to be seen how all these changes will manifest in the months to come. "The most significant single sentiment we feel is uncertainty," one of the AWS employees told BI.

Persons: Matt Garman, Garman, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Rob Munoz, Munoz, Charlie Bell, Rachel Thornton, Chris Vonderhaar, Peter DeSantis, DeSantis, Andy Jassy Mike Blake, AWS's, Prasad Kalyanaraman, Kalyanaraman, Amazon's, Bard, Adam Selipsky, Adam Selipsky Noah Berger, Selipsky, Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos, Jassy, Geekwire Organizations: Amazon Web, AWS, Business, Amazon, SMB, Enterprise, Reuters, Microsoft, Google, BI Locations: Las Vegas, AMZN's, billings

☆ Amazon tells managers they can now fire employees who won't come into the office 3 times a week
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon is now giving managers leeway to effectively fire employees who fail to meet the company's three-times-a-week, return-to-office mandate. That's according to updated global manager guidance on Amazon's return-to-office policy obtained by Insider. The guidelines tell managers to first hold a private conversation with employees who don't comply with the three-times-a-week requirement. Giving managers the ability to fire employees for non-compliance is the strongest measure Amazon has taken over its return-to-office policy. In February, Amazon said that corporate employees would have to come into the office at least three times a week starting in May.

Persons: Amazon's, Amazon, Andy Jassy, Rob Munoz, Munoz, We'll Organizations: Amazon, Amazon's

☆ How companies spy on their employees as they push return-to-office — from monitoring badge swipes to tracking breaks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's how firms use "bossware" to keep tabs on employees, from tracking keystrokes to breaks. AdvertisementAdvertisementJPMorgan's dashboard "provides the percentage of days employees were in the office out of the possible eligible days," a description on the company intranet says. AdvertisementAdvertisement"We help companies get peace of mind with productivity analytics," he previously told Insider. Sensors tracking employees' whereabouts in the officeSome employers may even keep tabs on where employees spend the most time in the office. CEO Alex Birch previously told Insider the devices don't identify individuals but render them as dots on a screen.

Persons: —, Insider's Eugene Kim, Rob Munoz, Goldman Sachs, it's, Carlo Borja, Insider's Reed Alexander, Alex Birch, Big, It's, Sean Grundy Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, Bevi

☆ Leaked screenshot shows Amazon is now tracking individual employee office attendance records, reversing its anonymized data policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is now tracking and sharing individual office attendance records, a reversal of an old policy, as the company doubles down on forcing employees back into the office. Amazon employees in the US are now able to see a "Badge Report" on their own internal HR dashboard, according to a screenshot obtained by Insider. The report shows "days badged per week" data and the exact "days of week" each employee badged-in for each of the past 8 weeks. The report excludes data for non-corporate Amazon buildings, like warehouses, data centers, and 3rd party offices such as WeWork. The memo added badge data is not available to employees in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Korea, or Taiwan.

Persons: Peter DeSantis, Rob Munoz, Munoz, Andy Jassy, it's Locations: Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Korea, Taiwan

☆ Amazon SVP pledges to clarify RTO policy, says warning email about office attendance was meant to be a 'nudge'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He also told employees to share anecdotes of being pressured to immediately relocate with his HR team, so he could "dig into" those situations. "I think we created some noise, which I think is important because we really do want people back in the office," DeSantis said, according to the transcript. 'Take another whack at clarifying this message'At the town hall meeting, DeSantis said the employees who were asked to relocate were those "in purely virtual locations." 'Kind of a nudge'In August, many Amazon employees received an email accusing them of not adhering to the company's RTO policy. The warning email, he said, was "well-intentioned" and only meant to be a "nudge" for people who weren't complying.

Persons: hasn't, Peter DeSantis, DeSantis, Rob Munoz, Munoz, Andy Jassy Michael M, Andy Jassy's, what's Organizations: Amazon, Utility Computing

☆ Amazon is seeing some employees quit instead of moving to a new state as part of relocation mandate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon spokesperson Rob Munoz confirmed the relocation policy, and said it affects a small percentage of the company's workforce. The e-commerce giant said hub locations vary by team, and each team determines which locations are their hub. Amazon said it will end a perk next year that allows staffers to get one free drink at in-office coffee shops. The company also reduced the amount it reimburses for parking, and stopped providing free Uber rides to and from work, employees said. Amazon said it still reimburses employees' public transportation costs in all major metro areas, and provides free commuter shuttles and campus shuttles.

Persons: Rob Munoz, Munoz, Andy Jassy Organizations: CNBC, Amazon Locations: Texas, Seattle , New York, Austin , Texas, Arlington , Virginia, Seattle

☆ A top Amazon executive recently said he had 'no data' to support the company's return-to-office mandate, prompting criticism from frustrated employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some Amazon employees are upset about the company's new RTO mandate. Amazon is famous for using data to make decisions — except when it's forcing employees back to the office. Hopkins's comments have added to rising frustration among some Amazon employees over the company's return-to-office mandate. Following Hopkins's meeting, Amazon employees took to internal Slack channels to vent their concerns. Another suspected Amazon was intentionally hiding data, and said the RTO mandate was in conflict with the company's "Earth's best employer" commitment.

Persons: Mike Hopkins, Hopkins, Andy Jassy, we're, Amazon, Rob Munoz, we've, Eugene Kim Organizations: Amazon Video, Amazon, Amazon's Locations: Seattle

Search resuls for: "Rob Munoz"

9 mentions found