this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: ‘It’s probably not going to work out’::Amazon CEO Andy Jassy responded to employees’ reluctance to return to the office by telling them that “it’s probably not going to work out,” according to Insider.

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[–] Vash63@lemmy.world 69 points 1 year ago

That's one way to thin your workforce after you overhired for the covid boom.

[–] Skies5394@lemmy.ml 50 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m anything but a soothsayer, but we’re already seeing remote work become a pretty important factor in people choosing employers, and it seems like most of the larger players in their respective industries are the ones trying to force people back into the office.

I could see this become a huge boom for low-mid tier companies that are able to put in more affordable offer packages but with work from home options attached and pry away talent from the high tier companies.

This could go a long way towards hopefully rebalancing the scales for quite a few things and hopefully reeling in some of these companies who have been able to take so much for so long.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Big companies pulling employees back to the office isn't pulling them back to the office. It's laying off higher wages and making room for lower wages.

All it does for the industry is lower the barrier for entry. Id take a pay cut to keep working remotely, no problem. 100k jobs at 80k remote means smaller employers can compete.

[–] SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Being forced back to the office is a paycut itself. It adds commute costs (fuel, wear and tear if you drive) and wastes more of your time you could spend doing other things. It also increases pollution and traffic for no good reason.

[–] Skies5394@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I had a headhunter come to me with what they thought was an aggressive offer to pry me away from my current company, but they believed in full office time all the time.

I calculated the commute time + gas + wear and tear into my calculation and it came in under my existing pay.

Went back to him and said unless you’re willing to do much better or move on the remote situation I’d be losing money by taking your offer.

I’ve heard from him a few times since asking if we can discuss it and I always ask, what’s the remote situation? “Oh maybe we can do a couple days a month.” Yea. No. Thanks for the offer, not interested. I recommend your company takes a second look at their office attendance requirements to stay competitive.

I know I’m not the only one as well. And I’m really hoping people start taking the opportunity to stand up to these useless requirements.

[–] user_AW11@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

US companies have much more "freedoms" to rob their "workers" from benefits. By law we have the following benefits

  • Yearly 20 days payed holidays
  • Payed maternity leave (both parents)
  • Must be payed while sick (call immediately)
  • Can't be fired during sickness
  • Can't be fired after sickness

I could tell a similar story about our healthcare (much cheaper and better)

[–] SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo 0 points 1 year ago

The US has no law mandating paid time off and you can be fired for being sick unless you're out on FMLA.

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

Exactly this. Companies that offer remote work are going to get their pick of employees, while companies that live in the past are going to subsist on what's left. Remote work can easily substitute for a huge amount of pay, because for a lot of employees that pay cut is less than what they'll save by not having to live in, say, San Francisco.

[–] elevator2182@lemmy.ca 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Good, leave the company and let it die

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] b3an@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Starship Troopers

How do I embed a gif? 🙈

[–] UndefinedIsNotAFunction@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can I come with? I need to jump ship too.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Do it. The only thing holding you back is yourself. There are so many startups out there absolutely salivating for MANGA talent.

[–] Diprount_Tomato@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Even if I haven't been using Amazon for like a year or more, I don't really see that giant falling soon

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It'll decline like the Roman empire.

[–] b3an@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago

What an out of touch wind bag. Oh sorry I meant douche bag. I’ve literally never seen a single positive story in the news about Amazon like ever. Plus their shit is filled with cheap Chinese ripoffs, exactly why I stopped using eBay too.

[–] WilliamTheWicked@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Holy crap. He seriously has the most punchable looking face I've seen in months.

I am just so damn sick of every CEO.

[–] silvercove@lemdro.id 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Andy Jassy seems like an incompetent version of Jeff Besos.

[–] ShittyRedditWasBetter@lemmy.world -5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah Amazon is both a danger to society killing of small businesses left and right, while also being run by an incompetent idiot like the former CEO of AWS, clearly a struggling wing of Amazon.

Really, take 20 seconds to evaluate the absurdity of your comments before posting.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yep. This solidifies my belief- irs a real estate issue

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I think it's the intersection of a lot of different issues (most things are), and most of them are about keeping workers beaten down and under control, but real estate is definitely a big part of the push we've seen in the media to suggest that remote work is somehow bad and going to go away.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But why though?

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to not pay for huge buildings?

And even if you can't get out of the contract, wouldn't it still be more cost effective to just leave it empty without paying for electricity, water and heat?

[–] CognitiveHazard@infosec.pub 7 points 1 year ago

Because the executives have money in, or relationships with, investments funds that are heavily vested in commercial real estate. So it might save money for the company, but the knock on effect of devaluing that real estate is a threat to many wealthy. So no matter how wasteful it is for the companies in question, the personal conflicts of interest at exectutive/board levels will ensure the farce continues until those companies are replaced or have no alternative.

[–] Lesrid@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

It's gotta be. If they were concerned about collective action they would be all for remote work, it's much harder for coworkers to bond or fraternize in remote positions.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Amazon has done way worse stuff to employees and they’ve not rebelled. They will 100% hold fast on 3 days in the office and be happy to see the back of anyone who leaves over it.

I’m not even talking about the abuses of drivers and warehouse workers. I’m talking about their tech offices. They are notorious for their hard driving long hours, darwinian culture, and aggressive managers.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 8 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Thousands of workers signed a petition against the mandate and staged a walkout in response.

In a recording of the meeting obtained by Insider, Jassy told workers, “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” adding that “if you can’t disagree and commit... it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week.”

The Verge reached out to Amazon with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

On top of ongoing layoffs, Amazon has been cracking down on employees who refuse to return to the office.

In July, leaked messages seen by Insider suggested that Amazon would force a “voluntary resignation” on employees who don’t relocate to the in-person hubs where their teams work while others just began quitting on their own.

The company has also started sending warnings to workers about their in-person attendance, according to Insider.


The original article contains 286 words, the summary contains 155 words. Saved 46%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 8 points 1 year ago

There isn't a remote chance?

I don't know about the meeting part, but the rest of the stuff in the article is correct. Can confirm.

[–] aquarisces@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Sit on a hot desk outside his office and just let it rip with a chesty cough.