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I Quit My Job at Amazon Rather Than Return to the Office 3 Days a Week
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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Why would Amazon, the company hyperfocused on efficiency, make office space the one thing they won't budge on?
Because it's not about the office space. It's about corporate greed. The upper management, who don't actually do anything but manage people, need those people in the office in order to keep their jobs. It's also a convenient way to do layoffs without needing to pay severance or unemployment and further doesn't stress investors who would pull money if they heard there were layoffs.
Why do managers need people in the office to maintain their jobs at Amazon? This is a company that has been deeply studied for its slavish dedication to metrics as a way to run the company. It is also a company that has been having issues providing enough office space for its staff, both within a city and in general.
Maybe this is a way for Amazon to get soft layoffs, but I find it hard that a company like Amazon wouldn't be thrilled to go for full remote so it can skip paying for some assets and allow itself to set pay at a national average instead of High Cost of Living cities.
The point isn't efficiency, the point is greed. Efficiency doesn't make money, it's idealistic. Office managers literally need people and an office in order to do anything. What are they going to do all day when no one needs pens or snacks or in-person administration? Assistants have nothing to schedule (except zoom calls) when people aren't travelling or going to in-person meetings. Amazon has already spent millions on building huge offices all over the world and has to justify it's use or else they sit empty and don't generate any revenue or business. Middle managers and project managers can still be remote since much of what they do is just email, but some of those guys need to see people working in office in order to have their power trips. The real reason these middle managers are demanding RTO so hard is specifically because people are actually MORE productive at home, which means that their jobs are on the line since there's no whip to crack. Who needs a slave driver when the slaves all hit their metrics?
lol, wut? How is anything not efficiency in Amazon's system not going to benefit their bottom line? This is a company that decided to out Walmart Walmart and did well. Middle management may not like efficiency, but this is a company that will fire managers for not meeting metrics or company goals. I fail to see "office real estate value" being a corporate goal.
And Amazon wouldn't sell these offices in a heartbeat? A company that creates the conditions where staff are too scared to help a person dying from a heart attack are going to suddenly get a big ol' softy for their corporate real estate vendor? Seriously?
Because Andy Jassy is an idiot on an ego trip.