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☆ Insurance employees reportedly threaten to quit after CEO backtracks on remote-work policy: 'I sold my house and moved closer to my grandkids'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Insurance company Farmers Group announced changes to the company's remote work policy last month, WSJ reports. Workers at insurance giant Farmers Group are reportedly threatening to quit or unionize after the company's new CEO backtracked on its remote work policy. "I sold my house and moved closer to my grandkids," another worker's comment read, according the Journal. Farmers Group spokesperson Carly Kraft told Insider over email that the company will shift to this hybrid work policy in September. The hybrid policy change will impact roughly 60% of the company's employees, Kraft wrote.

Persons: backtracked, Raul Vargas, Carly Kraft, Kraft, Meta, Jeff Dailey Organizations: Farmers Group, Workers, Employees, Farmers, Street, . Farmers Group, Amazon

[1/3] Amazon workers participate in a walkout at Amazon Headquarters, in Seattle, Washington, U.S., May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnightSEATTLE, May 31 (Reuters) - Some Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) employees staged a walkout on Wednesday in protest of the e-commerce giant's changes to its climate policy, layoffs and a return-to-office mandate. More than 1,900 employees had pledged to protest globally, according to the organizers, an activist group known as Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ). In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser said the company is pushing hard to cut its carbon emissions. He added that Amazon listens to employee feedback and was happy with the collaboration that arose from its return-to-office policy.

Persons: Matt Mills McKnight, AECJ, Brad Glasser, Matt McKnight, Tiyashi Datta, Jeffrey Dastin, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Amazon Headquarters, REUTERS, Inc, Amazon Employees, Climate Justice, Amazon, Thomson Locations: Seattle , Washington , U.S, Matt Mills McKnight SEATTLE, Seattle, San Francisco, Bengaluru, Palo Alto , California

☆ Amazon corporate workers plan to stage walkout, citing ‘lack of trust’ in leadership
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Nearly 2,000 corporate workers at Amazon have pledged to walk off the job on Wednesday to signal a “lack of trust” in the company’s leadership, in what could be the most visible sign of dissent among the e-commerce giant’s office workers in recent memory. Organizers said they will also have a way for employees at other Amazon corporate offices to participate virtually. All told, Amazon has said this year that it is laying off some 27,000 workers over multiple rounds of cuts. At the same time, Amazon and other tech companies are trying to get workers into the office more. “Amazon must keep pace with a changing world,” the group wrote in a Twitter thread last week calling for the walkout.

Persons: ”, Amazon, it’s, ” “, Brad Glasser, “, we’ve, who’ve, ” Glasser Organizations: CNN, Amazon, Amazon’s Seattle, Organizers, Twitter, Workers, Big Tech, Puget, Amazon Employees, Climate Justice Locations: Amazon’s, Los Angeles

☆ Amazon workers plan to walk out over 'lack of trust' in leadership
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon employees plan to walk off the job Wednesday in protest of the company's recent return-to-office mandate, layoffs and its environmental record. ET, with about 900 of those workers gathering outside the Spheres, the massive glass domes that anchor Amazon's Seattle headquarters, according to employee groups behind the effort. The walkout is being organized in part by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an influential worker organization that has repeatedly pressed the e-retailer on its climate stance. The group said employees are walking out to highlight a "lack of trust in company leadership's decision making." Amazon employees are walking off the job at a precarious time inside the company.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Brad Glasser, we've, Glasser, Amazon Organizations: Seattle, Amazon Employees, Climate Justice, Employees, Amazon, CNBC, Puget, The Center, Investigative, Greenhouse, Accounting Locations: Seattle , Washington, Seattle, Seattle , New York, Northern California

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon’s guide to AI in different industries, Earth’s neighboring star, and workers look for less stressful jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In other news:Tech workers are searching for low stress jobs on social media. Tech workers are looking for less stressful jobs. But one Amazon worker said there's "no such thing as [a] high pay low stress job in tech." Love Love Love: Award-winning engagement photos from around the world. Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Alistair Barr (tweet @alistairmbarr) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

☆ Amazon employees plan to walk out and accused the company of 'actively accelerating' the climate crisis, leaked email shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In the email, the organizing group encourages employee participation in the walkout by pointing out five areas of concern over Amazon's climate initiatives. Here's what the email says:Emissions that are rising: Amazon's emissions have increased 40%(!!) Partnering with Big Oil: AWS Al and machine learning are being used by Big Oil to greatly accelerate oil and gas discovery and extraction. Amazon launched the Climate Pledge in 2019, committing to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Partnering with Big Oil: AWS Al and machine learning are being used by Big Oil to greatly accelerate oil and gas discovery and extraction.

☆ Most remote workers say they'd take a pay cut to continue being allowed to work from home, a new poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

55 percent of fully remote US workers say they're willing to take a pay cut to keep working from home, a WaPo and Ipsos poll finds. Still, the majority of workers polled say they would return to the office if they got a salary bump. Many remote workers want to stay at home — and they're willing to make less money doing just that. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, said that remote work is "morally wrong" and that remote workers need to "get off the goddamn moral high horse." "The laptop classes are living in la-la land," Musk told CNBC during an interview in regards to remote workers.

☆ Amazon Is Everywhere. That’s What Makes It So Vulnerable.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Is there a more familiar sign of corporate dominance than the Amazon delivery van? Today, the Amazon vans are almost inescapable. But this seeming monument to Amazon’s strength is in some ways closer to the opposite: a symbol of its vulnerability. The vans are just the most visible piece of ‌the company’s vast delivery network. It has also made Amazon susceptible to a potent form of labor organizing — choke point organizing — in which workers threaten to hobble a company’s operations by shutting down key sites, known as choke points.

☆ An exclusive look inside Amazon's uniquely sustainable HQ2
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The 2.1 million square feet of space includes some of the newest clean energy technology and sustainability features. The floor is made of concrete from Carbon Cure, a clean cement company funded by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund. Starting next week, the first of 8,000 Amazon employees will begin moving into one of two brand new 22-story towers in Arlington, Virginia. Amazon's HQ2, formally called Metropolitan Park, has many features that contribute toward the company's goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions across all operations by 2040. Hurst wouldn't say how much the sustainability features increased the cost of the development.

☆ Amazon's 100 drone deliveries puts Prime Air far behind Alphabet's Wing and Walmart partner Zipline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Katie Tarasov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Wing CEO Adam Woodworth shows the Alphabet company's delivery drone to CNBC's Katie Tarasov on April 25, 2023, in Hollister, California. Walmart said it made more than 6,000 drone deliveries across seven states in 2022 with DroneUp, Zipline and a third partner, Flytrex. Amazon's VP of Prime Air David Carbon showcased the current MK27-2 drone in Westborough, Massachusetts, on Nov. 10, 2022. Prime Air drones, along with most other delivery drones, operate with a number of federal exemptions that greatly restrict where and how they can fly. Prime Air drones are not expected to exceed 58 decibels, according to an FAA assessment, about the noise level of an outdoor air conditioning unit.

☆ CEO of fitness band maker Whoop mocks the demise of Amazon's Halo health device
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The CEO of Whoop, a fitness band favored by athletes, is claiming victory over Amazon after the e-retailer pulled the plug on its line of Halo devices. Amazon said last week it will discontinue its Halo health and fitness devices, and shut down the Halo program, resulting in some employees being let go. Whoop CEO Will Ahmed said he views the demise of Halo as a win for his startup. He claimed the Halo wristband, which tracks users' physical activity, sleep and mood, was a knockoff of Whoop's own device. Whoop launched its first product, the Whoop 1.0, in 2015.

☆ Big Tech is pursuing 'the year of efficiency.' It could get supercharged by AI.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On the agenda today:But first: Why Big tech's new focus on efficiency could have far-reaching impacts. Tech jobs aren't coming backTech giants have been slashing jobs. Companies from Meta to Salesforce have cut jobs in the recent months in the pursuit of efficiency and profit margins. Also read:Whistleblower docs: Jane RobertsSupreme Court Justice Chief Justice John Roberts and his wife Jane Roberts arrive for a 2018 State Dinner at the White House. At least one of those firms argued a case before the chief justice after paying his wife hundreds of thousands of dollars.

☆ Amazon employees on performance-improvement plans have a little-known Slack channel. Leaked messages reveal anguish, despair, but also community.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

There's a word-of-mouth Slack channel used by Amazon employees on its performance-improvement plan. Most employees post anonymously; one former worker likened it to a virtual support group. The Slack channel, #focus-and-pivot-info, is not highly publicized, according to interviews with eight current and former Amazon employees, five of whom are or were members of the channel. Most employees post anonymously, making their comments difficult to verify or investigate further. On Slack, a sense of community — but also stressThe Slack channel does not appear to be public knowledge within the company.

☆ '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 is tracking employee badge swipes ahead of its return-to-office mandate. Some workers are worried.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Eugene Kim | Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon tracks team-level office badge data, internal emails show. Companies commonly use badge data for facilities management and safety reasons. Workers fear this data will be used to monitor for compliance with its return-to-office mandate. One of the contentious issues among employees is how Amazon plans to use employee badging data to track them. Amazon currently shares a weekly building occupancy report with managers, according to emails seen by Insider.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Charlie Bell speaks, Amazon RTO, and the lucrative side of teaching ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon needs to watch out for Charlie Bell. A founder of Amazon Web Services and the firm's "best person in the room," Bell shook the industry last September when he joined Microsoft. Bell will be overseeing a new cybersecurity division at Microsoft — but insiders at both Amazon and Microsoft wonder if he'll go more directly up against his former employer. My colleague Ashley Stewart examines the growing threat of Microsoft now that Bell is free from his noncompete purgatory. Look into the future here for Bell — and Microsoft — without Amazon's restrictions.

☆ 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.

Amazon delivery drivers at one of the company's California facilities joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union said Monday, in a win for labor organizers that have long sought to gain a foothold at the e-retailer. "We want fair pay and safe jobs, to be able to provide food for our families," said Rajpal Singh, an Amazon delivery driver at the Palmdale facility, in a statement. Randy Korgan, director of the Teamsters' Amazon division, said the union is "coordinating nationwide" with Amazon workers. So far, only one Amazon warehouse in the U.S. has voted to join a union. WATCH: Amazon drivers describe pressures and pitfalls of delivering for a DSP

☆ Internal guidelines show how Amazon wants managers to address employee concerns about pay as the value of its stock awards crumbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Amazon employees have lost more than 30% on stock awards they got last year. Even CEO Andy Jassy saw his 2022 realized compensation drop 25% because of the stock price decline. Amazon wants its managers to stress the "long-term" value of stock and "ownership" of work during annual employee compensation reviews that started earlier this month. That price is based on a 30-day trailing average stock price. If an employee disagrees with their pay, managers are to have an "open discussion" and determine whether an adjustment is necessary.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers are seriously injured at twice the rate of employees at similar warehouses, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The serious injury rate among Amazon warehouse workers is more than double the rate at other warehouses. The report also found that the rate of "serious" injuries was more than double the serious-injury rate at other warehouses. In 2022, the serious-injury rate among Amazon warehouse workers was 6.6 serious injuries for every 100 workers — more than double the rate at other warehouses, which was 3.2 serious injuries for every 100 workers. But both years reflected an increase in serious injuries compared to 2020, when Amazon's serious injury rate was 5.9 for every 100 workers. At the end of 2022, Amazon was hit with 14 citations from federal regulators for failing to record workers' injuries.

☆ Amazon Union President Chris Smalls Seen Fighting Worker in Video
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

On the night of December 5, the president of the Amazon Labor Union pummeled another union member. Some longtime Amazon Labor Union organizers decided to begin organizing on their own, without Smalls. All three said they believe in Smalls' mission and support the goals of the Amazon Labor Union, but worry about Smalls' ability to lead. Amazon Labor Union members consoled each other after the union lost the vote at its second warehouse, LDJ5, last April. One purpose of the organization appears to be to raise funds for the Amazon Labor Union, according to its certificate of incorporation.

☆ Leaked memo says Amazon plans to reduce employee stock awards in 2025, signaling a potentially major shift in its approach to compensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon told managers that it has decided to reduce the number of stock awards for employees in 2025. Amazon employees have been asking for a higher cash base pay, as its stock price dropped recently. A possibility, not a definite planIn an email to Insider, Amazon spokesperson August Aldebot-Green confirmed the accuracy of the memo. Amazon has historically offered less base cash pay compared to some of its peers. In the employee compensation statement, Amazon continues to bake in a 15% assumed stock price increase for 2024 and 2025.

☆ Leaked email shows even Twitch's CEO was caught off guard by Amazon's layoffs: 'I'm disappointed to share the news this way'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The CEO of Amazon-owned Twitch wrote that he's "disappointed" to share news of layoffs before each affected employee was told. His email reflects Amazon's lack of transparency over its layoff process, which affected roughly 25,000 employees since late last year. Amazon employees have complained about the ambiguity, which contradicts the company's commitment to creating "Earth's Best Employer." The email was separate from the public message Clancy shared on Twitch's blog on the same day. Just over 400 people were let go at Twitch as part of the new 9,000 being cut, this email explained.

☆ Amazon seller consultant admits to bribing employees to help clients; will plead guilty
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

An influential consultant for Amazon sellers admitted Monday to bribing employees of the e-commerce giant for information to help his clients boost sales and to get their suspended accounts reinstated. "On some occasions, I paid bribes, directly and indirectly, to Amazon employees to obtain annotations and reinstate suspended accounts. Behind the scenes, scammers have for years resorted to illicit tactics to squash competitors, artificially boost their listings or bypass Amazon's marketplace rules. "No one should pay bribes to Amazon employees to provide private Amazon information," Rosenberg wrote on Monday. Nor should anyone pay any Amazon employees for any other special favors regarding a seller's account."

☆ 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.

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