this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023

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Amazon is seeing some employees quit instead of moving to a new state as part of relocation mandate (www.cnbc.com)

submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Amazon is seeing some employees quit instead of moving to a new state as part of relocation mandate::As Amazon tries to get employees back to the office, some staffers are being told to relocate to hubs in different states if they want to keep their jobs

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[–] dm_me_your_boobs@lemm.ee 74 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Am Amazon employee (programmer) and can confirm. The shenanigans being pulled right now are absolutely bullshit and as somebody who's been at the company for a long time and has generally enjoyed the fast paced, high pressure atmosphere I'm real close to saying "fuck you" to some of my favorite people.

Note, my experience is probably far from the norm, but my org has nothing but wonderful individuals and they've fought really hard to keep the flexibility we've had since long before covid.

Fuck you Andy Jassy. We all despise you.

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Jassy is Amazon's Ballmer.

[–] dm_me_your_boobs@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I could not have said it better <3

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

Soo, uhh...

How many boobs got DMed to you?

[–] dm_me_your_boobs@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

None yet. Haven't really been active though. Maybe one day. In the meantime I'll have a hilarious username shamelessly stolen from Reddit.

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

As an Ex Amazonian, (did 5 years time in the Bezos era), you all are forgetting that Amazon’s entire culture is built to be predatory towards type A people. Jassy didn’t start that, Bezos did. Jassy is just relentless because of AWS operations. He’s not better or worse than Besos.

[–] silvercove@lemdro.id 4 points 1 year ago

Ballmer nearly destroyed Microsoft and Satya had to save it.

[–] silvercove@lemdro.id 66 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is why they did it. It's a great way to reduce headcount without paying severence.

[–] average650@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Forced relocation of more than 20 miles or so (some reasonable amount that doesn't require a move) should not allow a company to get out of severance. That should be illegal.

[–] tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 16 points 1 year ago

In many countries it is classed as constructive dismissal.

[–] ChronosWing@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 year ago

It's not exactly illegal but it is considered constructive dismissal which at least qualifies you for unemployment.

[–] Lexam@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 year ago

Had a job that could be done remotely. New VP wanted all of his people in one place that was across the country. Two people out of about twenty went. One was promised a promotion and the other was close to retirement.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well, uh... Duh? I mean, even if people absolutely loved their jobs and their employer, not everyone is going to move because the job moves. And Amazon isn't exactly the most loved employer.

[–] brihuang95@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've gotten over the idea of moving to a new location for a job. Right now I'm living in a city that I love and would not want to move out just to pursue a career opportunity.

That's definitely a new thing that's come out after COVID hit but there's no going back for me anyhow

[–] FoxBJK@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I bought my house right before COVID. No job is getting me to move at this point, and even if they wanted to there’s no offer lucrative enough to make selling a good idea. Interest rates would need to plummet first and we know that’s not happening anytime soon.

[–] Krakatoa@lemmy.film 0 points 1 year ago

5 billion dollars to move....

[–] sheogorath@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, even before COVID in my old job we moved office that basically changed my commute from a 10 minute walk to a 1 hour drive thru a shitty downtown traffic and my mental health sank. Even though in my previous job it was similar. I was already so used to having only 20 minutes of my day taken for commute (and the ability to have lunch at home).

Having that changed to at least 2 hours a day (take into account more expenses due to using personal vehicle, more time taken due to looking for a parking spot, and no I didn't use public transport because it's shitty in my area and can add another hour to my commute).

Since going full remote at the start of COVID basically the first thing I ask to any recruiter contacting me is whether the role is remote or not. If yes the next question is whether the management have plans to go back to the office in the current or next fiscal year.

Even with it's drawbacks, remote work has been a boon for me. I get to spend more time with my children, I get rewarded when I work efficiently because I can finish working faster. With Discord I can still keep building rapport with my coworkers by having game nights weekly.

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

It's really understandable, and even just a 1-hour commute changes an average day from 8 hours to ten hours, which is a huge quality of life difference.

As a manager, it's a little frustrating because I have great job applicants that are only interested in 100% remote but much of my work requires people to be hands on with hardware, and my company has a hybrid policy, so everyone has to be in plant some days.

My team is all software developers, and I have no doubt about them being as productive or more from home as at work (though in-person collaboration is more effective than remote). I don't have any personal issue with it and am as liberal as policy allows about approving remote work, but some things we do just have to be hands-on.

Thankfully, my personal commute is about 15 minutes, so isn't a big impact in my day

[–] s38b35M5@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

People aren't afraid of what will happen if they quit a job they don't like anymore after COVID taught us that we can weather some down time and find employers that match our values.

[–] SpeedLimit55@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

This is one way to reduce staff without having to fire or pay severance.

[–] ShittyRedditWasBetter@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Guys, you realize that this is already factored into the move right? You think the team was just shocked that most of the work force didn't leave? 🤦‍♂️

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[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How is this even legal. Isn't this considered workplace bullying?

[–] MaybeItWorks@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Please explain what ypu think “workplace bullying” is here. While I think it’s stupid, in at will states, Amazon’s terms of employment can be whatever Amazon wants as long as they comply with federal and state laws. It’s not illegal to tell you your job is moving. It’s just a shitty thing to do to your employees. There’s not bullying here. It’s just terms of employment.

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

What do you consider bullying if not just doing shitty things to people because you can?

[–] MaybeItWorks@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean I don’t like capitalism, but this is just capitalism. I appreciate that there is emotion in it, but it’s not as personal as bullying is and I think you are misusing the term bullying altogether. Bullying is a personal attack, this isn’t personal and doesn’t impact an individual in the same way bullying does.

Doesn’t make it right, but this is not bullying. Also, bullying isn’t illegal in any context. You’d have to argue for a hostile work environment and saying your job moved isn’t a hostile work environment.

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

I'll agree that bullying is probably the wrong term.

Where I'm from you can't just force people to change work location. If they want to move the company they can, but it has to be within x km of the preclvious building or get agreement from a certain percentage of employees. Otherwise it counts as a collective firing of the workforce.

Politicians should act on this stuff tbh.

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