this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warns remote workers: 'It's probably not going to work out for you'::Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees who defy his edict to return to the office three days a week that "it's probably not going to work out for you."

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[–] [email protected] 307 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Jassy told his employees that he spoke to scores of other CEOs and that “virtually all of them” preferred having their employees back in the office.

CEOs try not to think they're the center of the world, the challenge.

[–] [email protected] 200 points 2 years ago

"Should workers be subjected to pointless and dehumanizing drudgery that serves no practical purpose? Find out what this panel of five overpaid CEOs think, after the break."

[–] [email protected] 149 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In other unbiased polling, the wolf spoke to all the other wolves in the pack and they all prefer that the sheep be eaten.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 2 years ago

In similar fashion, an unprecedented unanimous vote was casted by all the worm hunting birds: worms should not live underground.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Workers should unionize. I don't know if its better but I know it's something they hate

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I spoke with virtually all of the workers, and none of them want to pay rent. Yet here we are.

CEOs can get bent through a videocall

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[–] [email protected] 184 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Maybe tech workers will finally unionize

[–] [email protected] 64 points 2 years ago

Nah, we're still high on our own farts to realise they can turn foul rather quickly.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago (6 children)

It's not looking good for programers in particular.

The reason why the can get paid as much as they want is 100% based on you being able to jump ship form company to company without having to wait for a company to find common ground between you and them through a union.

Sure, they'll still be hugely compensated but tech companies will keep abusing interns, freelancers. Obviously outsourcing will explode even more than it already has in the last 10 years.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (11 children)

True, but that's why you do a trade union instead of a company union. And programmers have a lot to gain. These companies, shareholders, and CEOs rake in billions that could be going to employees.

A programmer will make a feature that saves the company a million dollars and they'll get paid $100,000 to build it.

Now is the best time for programmers to unionize. Do it when you already have leverage to make sure the good times stay good. Otherwise, we'll eventually be as replaceable as drafters are now.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't buy it. This isn't the only mechanism, probably not even the most important one, for why salaries are where they are. Shortage of and especially of highly competent programmers is. In fact this actually underpins why jumping ship is even as easy as it is. Uninionization will provide additional leverage, while not diminishing the shortage pressure. Part of the point is that this leverage can substitute the leverage we have due to the current shortage, if and when it diminishes.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Too many libertarians in tech. Will never happen.

Source. In tech. Not libertarian.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago

I wish. A union could have easily prevented this.

[–] [email protected] 162 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The mentality of these people are like slave owners.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It's all the same families. The American Oligarchy.

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[–] [email protected] 112 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Amazon employees who refused to relocate near main offices of their teams were told they either have to find a new job internally or leave the company through a “voluntary resignation.”

How dumb does he think people are? This just makes me angry because they're probably going to get away with it too.

[–] makar94 55 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Why would you quit? Continue working from home while lining up a new job. Or, if they don't specify how long you have to be in on those 3 days, just clock in and go back home an hour later. Game the system, make it work for you. They do.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

lmao, "voluntary resignation" is hilarious. If you plan to purge everyone who won't relocate, you're gonna have to do a layoff. This isn't one of those layoffs that will impress investors, because it won't represent efficiency or cost savings, but instead corporate dysfunction.

If your workers aren't voluntarily relocating to return to the office, they're certainly not going to voluntarily forfeit their unemployment benefits by quitting. They'll just stop working and wait for the pink slip.

Unless they plan to attach a severance more valuable that unemployment benefits to the resignation, they're fucking dreaming. Even so, that would be a hilarious misstep to offer Amazon employees a voluntary paid exit, because it would undoubtedly result in an unsustainable wave of resignations across the org.

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[–] [email protected] 106 points 2 years ago (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 105 points 2 years ago (1 children)

More likely that it doesn't work out for Jassy. Certain Amazon units are underperforming under his leadership, and I wouldn't be shocked if his time at Amazon didn't last that much longer.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 years ago (6 children)

You can only artificially raise the price of real estate for so long.

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[–] dangblingus 101 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's a really nice way of threatening to take away the livelihood and health insurance of people doing work for you.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Today's workers are too nice...

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago

Well see, we're kinda trapped right now. We can go chopping heads off, get thrown in the news cycle for a few days, and then continue losing everything we got trapped in anyways.

[–] [email protected] 76 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Given how many millions of people must have used Amazon to order stuff to work from home over the past 3+ years, this is a really weird position to hold. You'd think this guy would be all about everyone kitting out their home office spaces.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (5 children)

used Amazon to order stuff to work from home

Amazon makes almost no money on retail sales. They make their money from AWS and from advertisers.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago (3 children)

It's not weird when you consider the average real estate lease for companies of this size is probably 10 years or more, so they are sitting on an inventory of empty or more empty than full offices, paying rent on them, but not having anyone in there. Also, many cities/states incentivize "butts in chairs" based tax breaks for companies that hire staff in their cities, and you don't have butts in the chairs, you don't have the tax breaks.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 years ago (1 children)

A voluntary resignation? Good luck with that!

[–] KairuByte 24 points 2 years ago

“Yes, I assure you they voluntarily resigned. They tried to resist it but we forced it on them.”

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 years ago (12 children)

The brain drain is real. Wonder how long before this boomer policy hurts Andy's precious shareholders.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I've gotten so much recruitment crap from Amazon. This kind of crap is why none of those worked out for them.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 years ago (7 children)

I think my favorite part of the Amazon RTO is the fact that there are many offices that charge you to park there

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

When I worked in an office I had to pay for parking in addition to paying for gas and wear and tear, ALLLLLLLL so I could have the very valuable experience of working in an open concept office that is perpetually loud and distracting

But yeah… wfh is totally bad for productivity… give me a fucking break

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago

Remote Workers warn Amazon CEO Any Jassy: 'Working for a tyrant is probably not going to work out for us."

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

And also start the compensated-hours clock the moment I step into the car. We're giving you eight hours a day, not 12 now.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago

Gonna need a hot lunch provided, laundry on-site, dog walkers, child care, a gym and a space where I can play guitar when I'm on a break

Oooh you wanted me to give all that up for nothing? In that case you can get bent, get fucked, roll over and get fucked again. I left three jobs over RTO mandates. Every time I left it was for more money. Now I'm at a place that doesn't even have an office, just Google meet and a PO box for physical mail.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago (4 children)

We also used to have paid lunches and breaks. We lost those in the 1980s.

It would be remiss of me to neglect mentioning covering and mandating OSHA required breaks (and otherwise recognizing your worker are human beings) can improve their productivity to exceed the time and expense cost, so it's not just being a good boss but economically sound.

The failures of top-down management to even keep their own businesses working optimally is an indictment of capitalism at its core.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 years ago

This is readily admitting he's about to do what's called Constructive Dismissal!

Which means he will owe all remote workers their severance pay.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago

I was looking at some of the Amazon postings near me, but they're all down in Irvine.

Pretty much the entire talents pool of LA is off limits to Amazon now.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 years ago (2 children)

As the planet burns down they think it's a great idea to force more fossil fuels usage so they can feel important

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

You know what's probably not going to work out for you, Andy Jassy? The next proletariat uprising.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

That's never going to happen.

What really won't work out for him is retention of top talent that values WFH.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

Nah, I'm fine at home.

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