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☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ One Amazon team posted nearly 25,000 job openings last year — when only 7,800 had been approved
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Britney Nguyen | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A team at Amazon had posted 25,000 open jobs last year, but only 7,800 were approved, Insider found. A lack of oversight over the job-posting process led to "over-hiring," an internal document says. This week, Amazon announced it was cutting 9,000 jobs in addition to the 18,000 it cut in January. Amazon's "over-hiring" problem led "to span of control and level ratio defects," the document said. Defects in Amazon's "level ratio" could mean its unit hired more over-qualified or under-qualified people than what was budgeted for.

☆ How Amazon’s flawed job posting process caused it to overhire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Before I go check my remaining stash to make sure it's all real, let's dive into today's tech. Amazon's flawed job posting process. The company had little oversight of the hiring process until last year, Insider learned. Check out this leaked, all-hands message about "single-digit" percentage cuts to AWS)My colleague Eugene Kim breaks down Amazon's flawed hiring process. He shared the red flags he overlooked during the hiring process, including the hiring of a new chief revenue officer.

☆ Leaked document shows Amazon's flawed job-posting process led to 'over-hiring,' with one team listing 3 times more openings than approved for
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon lacked internal oversight and governance in listing job posts, leading to over hiring, according to an internal document. That means the utility computing team had over 3-times more job postings than the headcount target at the time. The document points to Amazon's lack of standardization and governance for the gap between the job postings and open headcount. "This enabled over-hiring in certain cost centers and contributed to span of control and level ratio defects," the internal document said. This person said Amazon's lack of oversight in job postings and the related hiring process caused "over-hiring issues" and leaders trying to "squeeze people in where they could."

☆ Amazon just asked its software engineers to start using a new in-house AI tool, rather than ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees last month that generative AI is a "significant area of focus" for the company. Amazon wants its engineers to start using its own ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence tool at work, as it looks to catch up in the AI chatbot space, Insider has learned. "Amazon CodeWhisperer is an AI-powered coding assistant that provides real-time recommendations in your IDE based on your existing code and comments," the email, titled "Start using Amazon CodeWhisperer today," said. The move signals Amazon's behind-the-scenes efforts to join the AI chatbot race, where it has been noticeably absent in the public space. He also said Amazon's investment in this space will only increase, highlighting the maturation of generative AI, which powers many of the AI chatbots.

☆ Ex-Apple engineer says Siri is way too clunky to ever be like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ex-Apple engineer John Burkey told NYT that voice assistant Siri may never be as robust as ChatGPT. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT threaten to make voice assistant tech obsolete. John Burkey, an ex-Apple engineer who was tasked to improve Siri in 2014 and left the company in 2016, said that Siri's clunky design makes it difficult to add new features. Burkey's views on Siri come as the wildly popular AI chatbot ChatGPT — which now runs on GPT-4, its most advanced language model yet — threatens to make voice assistant tech obsolete with its impressive capabilities. Siri users have even taken notice, expressing their frustrations on Reddit with questions like "Why is Siri so stupid" and "is Siri getting dumber each year."

☆ Almost 30,000 Amazon employees have signed an internal petition to fight the company's return-to-office mandate. Read the full copy here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

New mandate requires most office workers to come into the office at least 3 times a week starting in May. About 3 weeks since the announcement of the new policy, more than 29,200 Amazon employees have signed an internal petition opposing the mandate. Roughly 30,000 Amazon employees have joined that Slack channel, which was created shortly after the RTO announcement. In the petition, Amazon employees added internal data supporting continued remote work and dozens of comments explaining why they oppose the change. A 2013 Stanford University study of Chinese workers found that remote workers are 13% more productive than their in-office counterparts.

☆ In a leaked recording, an Amazon HR executive hints at rehiring employees who were laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AWS HR VP Ian Wilson said Amazon is looking for ways to rehire some of the laid off employees. Amazon laid off over 18,000 employees in January. Amazon slashed over 18,000 jobs in January to deal with slowing growth and a volatile economy. Some of those laid off employees may soon get a call to return to the company. Wilson said re-staffing laid off employees has been "top of mind" for him, but it's been difficult because of Amazon's recent hiring freeze.

☆ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana were 'dumb as a rock'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said voice assistants like Siri and Alexa were "dumb as a rock." Nadella who raved about the voice assistants in 2016 saying "bots are the new apps," has changed his tune since then, the FT reported. "Whether it's Cortana or Alexa or Google Assistant or Siri, all these just don't work. According to Insider Intelligence analysis in 2018, just 2% of global consumers said they used Cortana as their primary voice assistant. Siri's co-creator Adam Cheyer told the FT that ChatGPT's ability to understand complex information makes existing voice assistants look stupid, saying "the previous capabilities have just been too awkward."

☆ Leaked audio shows Google Cloud CEO giving a fiery rallying cry and calling out demeaning competitors in AI: 'The game is never done in the first minute'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Eugene Kim | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian last month reiterated the company's commitment to AI. Google is in a tough spot as competition in AI chatbots heats up with ChatGPT and Microsoft. I would tell you this is the very first minute of a new game, and the game is never done in the first minute. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has asked employees to commit two to four hours to training Bard, which further indicates the urgency with which it's moving. Some Google employees have internally mocked the Bard announcement and expressed frustration over the added work in testing the AI chatbot, Insider previously reported.

☆ Hundreds of Amazon employees join a new Slack channel to support the company's return-to-office policy after 'sensing the danger' of others calling for permanent remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Amazon staff created a new Slack channel to support the company's new return-to-office mandate. The move came after thousands of employees joined a separate Slack channel opposing the RTO plan. Amazon employees are showing far more support for the Slack channel that opposes the new RTO policy. Hundreds of Amazon employees joined a new Slack channel last week that supports the company's new return-to-office policy, Insider has learned — just days after a much larger group of staff rushed to a separate Slack channel that's fighting against the RTO mandate. Still, remote work seems to have more support from Amazon employees, at least based on the number of people in each of the Slack channels.

☆ Ex-Amazon managers say they were pressured to cut successful workers to meet attrition goals — and faced retribution when they resisted
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Former Amazon managers say they were pressured to cut successful workers to meet attrition goals. In anticipation of Amazon's performance-review period, he told Insider, he'd kept careful notes on what his employees were doing well and where they could improve. These people said leadership would place employees in Focus even if the managers of those employees said that the workers had met or exceeded expectations. A few weeks later, he said, his manager told him he was on Pivot and had the option to leave the company with severance, which he did. Amazon managers are required to submit their performance ratings for employees in an online tool, then discuss their rationale with managers above them, he said.

☆ In leaked audio Amazon's new retail CEO says deliveries will be 'faster' than ever this year despite complaints of slower shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon's retail CEO Doug Herrington expects delivery speed to be "faster" than ever this year. But the company's retail CEO Doug Herrington believes Amazon's shipping will improve dramatically this year, to the point where they deliver "faster" than ever before. It's easy to find Amazon customers pointing this out on social media. Herrington hinted at improved efficiencies across Amazon's delivery network that was hit hard by labor and logistics issues since the start of the pandemic. 'Two big overriding priorities'During last week's meeting, Herrington said improving delivery speed is one of the "two big overriding priorities" for Amazon's retail business this year.

☆ Amazon's corporate employees will be paid up to 50% less in 2023 because of its falling stock price, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon corporate employees will be paid up to 50% less in 2023 due to its falling share price, the WSJ reported. Salaries this year are likely 15% to 50% lower than the estimations given to Amazon staff, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Stock units are issued to staff on the basis that the company's share price will increase around 15% every year, sources told the Journal. The sources added that expectations were that the company's share price would be around $170 this year, rather than the $97 where it currently trades. Amazon's decreasing stock price reflects a wider economic slowdown, as well as slowing growth in its retail business.

☆ Amazon's internal Slack channel blows up after employees are told to return to office. Now they're creating a petition to fight back.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Within hours of Friday's announcement, over 5,000 Amazon employees joined the new Slack channel, called "Remote Advocacy," according to screenshots seen by Insider. The channel was created "to advocate for remote work at Amazon" and seeks "data, anecdotes, articles about the benefits of remote work," it said. 'Absolute chaos'Several Amazon employees in the Slack channel expressed frustration, confusion, and anger. An impromptu survey within the Slack channel showed almost 80% of respondents saying they'll look for another job because of this change. In the Slack channel, employees are putting together a petition to push back against the return-to-office mandate.

☆ Leaked messages show a high-profile Amazon VP trying to calm employees over the return-to-office mandate: 'Let's not grab our torches and pitchforks quite yet'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paul Vixie, a high-profile Amazon VP, told employees to be patient and wait for more details about the new return-to-office mandate. Amazon employees are furious about the new mandate which requires them to be in the office three days a week starting in May. A high-profile Amazon executive joined an internal Slack conversation on Tuesday as employee angst over the sudden return-to-office mandate intensified. It also shows how Amazon's return-to-office mandate was not widely shared even among the highest-ranked employees prior to its announcement on Friday. Many employees in the Slack channel expressed frustration over the abruptness and vagueness of Jassy's announcement.

☆ Amazon will require corporate employees to work in the office at least three days per week starting in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon employees will need to be back in offices at least three days per week starting in May. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the change to corporate employees on Friday. "We don't have a plan to require people to come back," he said at the event, per CNBC. Several of the other largest companies in the US like Google and Disney have announced policies in recent months to require employees spend at least some time in offices, with varying degrees of success. Over 2,000 Disney employees have reportedly signed a petition urging CEO Bob Iger to reconsider the policy that would require employees to spend at least four days per week in offices.

☆ 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."

☆ Amazon's pledge to become 'Earth's Best Employer' is failing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I get a lot of satisfaction out of what I do, but I'd love to work for the world's best employer. What would the best employer in the world look like? While we ponder these imponderables, I can tell you that it's probably not Amazon — despite its flashy 2021 pledge to become "Earth's Best Employer." Amazon is fumbling its "Earth's Best Employer" pledge. CEO Andy Jassy even once admitted that the definition of Earth's Best Employer is "subjective."

☆ Leaked recording shows Amazon CEO Andy Jassy delivering a brutally honest rallying cry for employees to 'redefine' the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees on Tuesday that it'll take many months to redefine the company. But he said if everyone works together as a team, Amazon will get through it stronger. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy delivered a brutally honest motivational pep talk at an internal staff meeting on Tuesday, urging employees to band together as the company tries to get through an unusually challenging time. But he promised employees that the progress they make will "redefine" Amazon and better-position the company going forward, according to a recording of the all-hands meeting obtained by Insider. I don't really know any other company that's pursuing a set of innovations like that," Jassy said.

☆ Amazon CEO says ChatGPT is 'exciting,' but that Amazon has been working on similar tech for a long time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI like ChatGPT presents "exciting" possibilities. He told the Financial Times that Amazon has been working on generative AI for a long time. Amazon company supporters are worried the company is falling behind in this area, per the FT.Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. "I think it's exciting, what's possible with generative AI," Jassy told the FT. "And it's part of what you're seeing with models like ChatGPT. But most large, deeply technical companies like ours, have been working on these very large, generative AI models themselves for a long time."

☆ Companies are using layoffs to cut new-hire salaries and win back the power they held before the pandemic, some recruiters say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Speculation on the 'real reason' tech companies are shedding workersSome on TikTok and Reddit have posited that the "real reason" tech companies are cutting jobs is to tamp down fat salaries bloated by the Great Resignation. Tech companies scrambled to meet demand and went on a hiring binge during the pandemic. At a time when wages were climbing at the fastest pace in decades across the board, tech companies were especially generous to new hires — and even existing employees. A year and a half ago, compensation was a "completely different ball game," a former recruiter at Google told Insider. Will tech companies then try to hire back their workers at lower salaries?

☆ For a Microsoft report, ChatGPT was asked to write a funny poem about Bing being better than Google. See it here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

For an internal report, ChatGPT was asked to write a funny limerick about Bing beating Google. That exuberance could be felt in an internal report that analyzed the positive online sentiment around Microsoft's close relationship with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, as Insider previously reported. In the internal report, prepared by Sprinklr and seen by Insider, the authors asked the OpenAI chatbot to write a "funny limerick about how Microsoft beats Google by integrating ChatGPT into Bing." The sudden emergence of ChatGPT and its partnership with Microsoft has sparked new interest in Bing as a potential threat to Google, as Insider previously reported. On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a number of new features for Bing, powered by the AI technology found in ChatGPT, like interactive chat and summaries.

☆ Leaked Microsoft research claims Bing and ChatGPT can 'challenge Google's monopoly'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Microsoft study found positive market sentiment on Bing and ChatGPT's potential to challenge Google. Bing could potentially "level the playing field" with Google search, according to the study. Sprinklr, which analyzes online sentiment, studied a wide range of comments about Microsoft, its Bing search engine, ChatGPT, and Google. Many people see "ChatGPT + Bing as a 'threat' or 'challenge' to Google Search," it added. "Bing can leverage the power of ChatGPT for improved results and challenge Google's monopoly," the report, marked Microsoft Confidential, explained.

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