DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Amazon employees will be left in limbo for 2 weeks while they wait to find out if they're among the 18,000 staff being laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon announced plans to lay off 18,000 workers on Wednesday. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company would inform impacted employees starting on January 18. Thousands of employees will be left in limbo for two weeks while they wait for the details. He said that the company planned to inform impacted employees starting on January 18 and news of the layoffs had been leaked. In the memo, Jassy said most of the layoffs would hit the company's Amazon Stores and People Experience and Technology Solutions divisions.

☆ Here's what's next for the tech sector in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm your host, Jordan Parker Erb, and I've got some news: Today is my last edition of 10 Things in Tech. Below, we're taking a look ahead at the new year, and discussing what's next for the tech sector. Wall Street analysts explain why they think tech is headed for a huge rebound in 2023. Tech companies saw a challenging 2022, but analysts at Wedbush say the industry will grow in the coming year, with nowhere to go but up. The past 12 months have been volatile for the ad industry — and it foreshadows even more change in 2023.

☆ Musk's yes-men: 5 experts break down why it's difficult to 'speak truth to power.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Like yesterday, we're continuing with some of the year's best stories from our VC and startups team. Why it's difficult to "speak truth to power." The top VC and startups stories of 2022:Union Square Ventures; 645 Ventures; Race Capital; Mindset Ventures; Marianne Ayala/Insider6. Former Amazon leaders have infiltrated the tech industry. After dominating the VC industry last year, crossover funds spent 2022 pulling back.

☆ Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

For the rest of the week, in addition to the day's top stories, I'll be highlighting some of the year's biggest investigations, features, and more from Insider's tech reporters. Today, we're taking a look back on everything from employee angst at Amazon to Thomas Kurian's three-year reign at Google Cloud. Which Twitter alternatives have staying power — and which is the next Clubhouse? See which Twitter alternatives could make it out alive. We gave readers an inside look at Kurian's Google Cloud.

☆ A band of immigrant tenants went to war with their $31 billion landlord. It's a sneak peek at what's to come across America.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

In Alexandria, Virginia, $31 billion landlord CIM Group bought a massive apartment complex in 2020. The group was organizing against CIM Group, the landlord they said had upended their lives. Insider spoke with 10 Southern Towers tenants. The battle between the Southern Towers tenants and CIM could presage what's to come across America. "We're not going to leave"The Southern Towers tenants aren't the only ones following the money.

☆ Amazon workers will go on formal strike for the first time in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Though Amazon workers in the U.K. have previously stopped working in August and on Black Friday in November in protest over the summer pay increase, these were spontaneous, unsanctioned withdrawals of labor. Amanda Gearing, senior organizer at GMB, said the Coventry workers "should be applauded for their grit and determination." It's not too late to avoid strike action; get round the table with GMB to improve the pay and conditions of workers." "This represents a 29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. In recent weeks, upcoming strike actions have been announced by nurses, rail workers, postal workers, ambulance workers, airport staff, Border Force agents, highway workers, Eurostar staff, civil servants, bus drivers, firefighters, charity workers, meteorologists and offshore workers.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers in UK vote to go on strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Amazon warehouse workers at a facility in the United Kingdom plan to go on strike, their union confirmed to CNN on Friday, in a move that’s being billed as a first for the company’s workers in the country. The GMB union, which represents workers in a range of industries in the UK, said that hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry overwhelmingly voted for the strike, which is expected to take place in the new year. “On top of this, we’re pleased to have announced that full-time, part-time and seasonal frontline employees will receive an additional one-time special payment of up to £500 as an extra thank you.”The move from Amazon workers in the UK also comes as Amazon workers in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, made history earlier this year when they voted to form the first-ever labor union at one of the company’s US facilities. Despite the landmark victory for the worker group, known as the Amazon Labor Union, the company has yet to formally recognize the union or come to the bargaining table.

☆ A brutally honest internal study about Amazon's 'Earth's Best Employer' project slammed the company for creating 'stress, burnout, churn, and a cut-throat atmosphere'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon has made becoming "Earth's best employer" one of the company's top priorities. The study identified six focus areas for Amazon to work on to become Earth's best employer. To fix those issues, the company identified six improvement areas, according to a copy of the "Earth's Best Employer Discussion" study seen by Insider. And 7.5% of Amazon tech employees said ideas related to social impact were the one thing Amazon could do better to be EBE. "We want to lead with an innovative and inspiring approach to being Earth's Best Employer," the document said.

☆ A former Amazon exec was reportedly paid more than $800,000 in 2021 to run Jeff Bezos' preschool system, which mostly comprised 1 school with 13 students
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jeff Bezos' nonprofit preschool reportedly paid leadership significantly higher-than-average salaries in 2021. For most of last year, Bezos Academy consisted of just one location with 13 students. George spent more than 20 years at Amazon and led consumer projects like Amazon Echo and Alexa, according to Bezos Academy's website. George's pay falls "within a reasonable range of competitive market prices," Bezos Academy told Bloomberg. Katie Ford, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, told Bloomberg that Bezos Academy plans to open 15 more schools by the end of 2023.

☆ Amazon CEO explains thinking behind layoffs as unionized warehouse workers protest outside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon, more than most tech companies, experienced a staggering pandemic boom as more customers shifted their spending online during the health crisis. Despite the landmark union victory in April, Amazon has so far refused to formally recognize the grassroots worker group known as the Amazon Labor Union, or come to the bargaining table. The company has aggressively pushed back against the workers’ victory through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Jassy also emphasized that the last two Amazon union elections held resulted in workers voting not to unionize, and that Amazon prefers to have a direct relationship with fulfillment center workers rather than going through unions. Labor activist Chris Smalls joins members of the Amazon labor union and others for a protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit as Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, will be appearing on November 30, 2022 in New York City.

☆ Amazon workers strike in the US and 30 other countries on Black Friday in global 'Make Amazon Pay' campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Protests by Amazon workers and allies were planned in 30-plus countries on Black Friday. The Make Amazon Pay campaign comes as Amazon faces unionization efforts across the globe. The campaign is led by Make Amazon Pay, a coalition of 70 trade unions and organizations including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amazon Workers International. Protests were planned in more than 30 countries, including India, Germany, and Japan, according to Make Amazon Pay. Gig Workers Association (GigWA) in association with Amazon Warehouse workers and Hawkers Joint Action Committee participate in a protest in New Delhi, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. On the agenda today:But up first: Each year, Insider surfaces 100 leaders across 10 industries who are driving unprecedented change and innovation. Ashley Davis from our special projects team is here to take us behind the scenes of this year's list. InsiderIn the past 12 months, business leaders have faced inflation, a polarized political climate, persistent supply-chain issues, the Great Resignation, a real-estate boom, and more. Our editors carefully selected the power players, activists, and pioneers who are shaping the future.

☆ Amazon is gutting its voice-assistant Alexa. Once founder Jeff Bezos's pet project it's now the primary target of historic layoffs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon's Alexa and the devices team at large is now the prime target of the biggest layoffs in the company's history, according to press reports and an internal email seen by Insider. Instead, Amazon wanted shoppers to buy more things through Echo devices by placing orders through the voice-assistant. Reports of Alexa mistakenly sending voice recordings to the wrong person or Amazon employees secretly listening to private conversations stoked fear of privacy concerns. But even so, its financial contribution often fell short of expectations, more than half a dozen employees told Insider. Employees told Insider the product is Bezos's latest pet project.

☆ I’m a 22-year-old Amazon delivery driver. The cameras in my truck keep me on high alert, but it’s my dream job and the flexible hours are great.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Victoria Goldiee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ulises Perez, 22, has been an Amazon delivery driver in Salt Lake City since 2020. I'd always wanted to be an Amazon driver as soon as I knew of the job's existence. I began to bide my time until I turned 21 — which is the official age to start work as an Amazon driver — and I could join my dream profession. A while after leaving my previous job, I came across an opening for a driver on Indeed, which I applied for. (Editor's note: Perez, like many Amazon delivery drivers, was hired by a local delivery-service partner and is considered an independent subcontractor with Amazon.)

☆ Amazon's layoff meltdown: Inside a week of turmoil when thousands lost their jobs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"I just don't know how to tell this news to my kids," one employee wrote. "At some point we have to stop calling them leadership," another employee wrote. In a memo to employees, Amazon's devices chief, Dave Limp, pinned the layoffs on an adverse economic climate. A new breaking point for corporate employeesIndeed, some Amazon employees had already reached a breaking point. On Discord, a small group of Amazon employees began broaching a taboo topic: Unionizing.

☆ Amazon recently instructed managers to identify low performers to push out: 'Stack rank your team members asap.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The messages were between managers from numerous divisions, including Amazon Web Services, Pricing, and Compliance. "Unregretted attrition" includes employees Amazon considers low-performing who are pressured out via notorious performance-management programs. Amazon employees have long railed against the company's performance-management process. Amazon sets a 6% target for unregretted attrition, Insider has previously reported. Amazon instructs managers not to tell their employees if they are on Focus, generating complaints that the process is opaque.

☆ Amazon layoffs to extend into 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said on Thursday there would be more role reductions as its annual planning process extends into next year and leaders continue to make adjustments. "Those decisions will be shared with impacted employees and organizations early in 2023", said Andy Jassy, who became the company's Chief Executive Officer in 2021, in a letter to Amazon employees. Jassy added the company was in the middle of an annual operating planning review where it was making decisions about what should change in each of its business. Amazon has not yet decided on how many other roles will be impacted from the move. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Googlers are making memes to deal with the looming threat of job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meanwhile, former Yahoo CEO and one-time Google exec Marissa Mayer is sounding the alarm bell that the web itself could be degrading in quality. Google employees meme past the graveyard. Elon Musk fired as many as two dozen Twitter employees this week who had criticized his leadership style. Now, Twitter employees are deleting internal Slack messages they fear Musk won't like, so as to avoid his wrath. A Twitter exec went so far as to warn employees to use Slack "wisely."

☆ In the midst of Amazon's record layoffs, corporate employees of the company float a forbidden word: Union
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A small group of corporate Amazon staff is discussing unionizing, according to messages seen by Insider. There, a small group of corporate employees have been openly discussing the pros and cons of labor activism, including organizing into a union. Though only one warehouse has successfully voted to unionize, organizing efforts are active in at least seven Amazon locations. And now, with about 10,000 corporate jobs on the line, union activism is picking up here, too. Members of the Discord group have brought up the Alphabet Workers Union, a minority union representing roughly 1,000 Alphabet employees and affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, as a possible model.

☆ 5 former Amazon managers tell us what they loved about the company — and what they were glad to leave behind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | Katie Malone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Many other leaders do the same, the former Amazon leader said. the current Microsoft employee said. For instance, Microsoft gets the whole company together to do activities and donate to causes they like, which Amazon doesn't do, the current Microsoft employee said. Malte Mueller/Getty ImagesDrive for excellence, with burnoutBeyond teaching its own leadership tenets, Amazon isn't big on manager training, one of the current Google employees said. Without proper institutional support, constantly operating at such a high level can lead Amazon employees to burnout, a former Amazon leader who now works at Google said.

☆ Read the memo Amazon's Alexa and devices chief Dave Limp sent to notify his division of layoffs: 'I know this news is tough to digest'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon employees have complained of a communications vacuum from leadership. Devices chief Dave Limp emailed his division Wednesday morning to notify them of the layoffs. As colleagues were called into meetings and notified they were being laid off, some Amazon employees complained that a communication vacuum from leadership was adding to the sense of anxiety pervading the company. Wednesday morning, Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president for devices and services, which houses Alexa, emailed employees to explain the rationale behind the cuts. Thank you for the support and empathy that I know our team will show each other during this time.

☆ One professional trader game planned for Alameda's blowup, but it still wasn't enough to protect against FTX's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX. Amid the implosion of crypto exchange FTX, I'm sure many of you had a similar thought creep into your mind. That would be unfathomable that he would do that — even if your prop shop went down, why would you risk a $32 billion exchange business that prints money?" The lake-side castle the New York Yankees legend put on the market four years ago is now reportedly going to auction with an opening bid of $6.5 million. Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief.

☆ Amazon employees are cobbling together lists of teams experiencing layoffs, and a 'Safe List,' in a communication vacuum from leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Katherine Long | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Staff anxious to know more formed a Slack channel to discuss layoffs. The channel keeps a tally of teams where employees appear to have been cut, and a "Safe List." In a Slack channel, created Tuesday morning, employees are swapping news of job cuts, sharing resources, and supporting laid-off colleagues. Members of the new Slack have also drafted a "Safe List" of divisions that likely have avoided serious layoffs, underscoring the uncertainty some Amazon employees are experiencing. Employees criticized the offer, including the warning of layoffs, on the internal Slack channel.

☆ See the one-page document Amazon employees are using to manage 'freak-outs' over layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On internal message boards, Amazon employees are swapping tips for handling stress over reports that the company is planning to lay off 10,000 corporate employees. Layoffs began Tuesday and Amazon employees who have been laid off will have 60 days to find a new job internally, Insider reported. In Slack groups Tuesday, some Amazon employees said they were having trouble staying focused and productive because they were too worried they might lose their jobs. The last section of Investigation asks employees to answer The Five Whys, a deceptively simple technique developed at Toyota. The final step, Resolution, asks employees to respond to eight questions.

☆ Amazon starts cutting jobs, with layoffs hitting Alexa unit and cloud gaming division
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of Amazon.Com Inc., speaks during the GeekWire Summit in Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. Amazon on Tuesday began laying off employees in its corporate and tech workforce as CEO Andy Jassy steps up efforts to rein in costs. The company notified workers in several divisions, including Alexa and the Luna cloud gaming unit, that they were being let go, according to LinkedIn posts from Amazon employees who said they had been impacted. Amazon is aiming to eliminate about 10,000 jobs, mostly in retail, devices and human resources, The New York Times reported Monday. One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said Amazon informed her earlier this month that it wouldn't be renewing her contract.

Search resuls for: "Amazon Employees"

25 mentions found