Thread by @jodikantor

A key finding of this story is that Jeff Bezos *intentionally* encouraged turnover among hourly Amazon workers-- an approach with massive consequences (thread)
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Bezos feared a long-serving work force, calling it “a march to mediocrity,” according to David Niekerk, who was the architect of HR in Amazon’s warehouses.

This was because Bezos believed that people were inherently lazy. “What he would say is that our nature as humans is to expend as little energy as possible to get what we want or need,” Niekerk said.

That conviction was embedded in the whole business, from the ease of instant ordering to the pervasive use of metrics to get the most out of employees. Company data showed that most workers became less eager over time.

Amazon hit roughly 150% turnover-- a shocking number we’re revealing for the first time. This means that on average it has to replace its warehouse workforce every eight months.

The company dinged a proposal to create more leadership roles for hourly employees, preferring to hire what one exec called “wicked smart” frontline managers just out of college. (Walmart doesn’t pay as well but over 75% of managers in U.S. stores started as hourly employees.)

Guaranteed wage increases stopped after 3 yrs. Hourly workers are given thousands of $$s to resign and courses in other fields. Beyond solid wages and benefits and *some* promotion/training opportunities, Amazon’s astonishing success doesn’t fully accrue to these workers.

Who are mostly Black and Latino.

This helps explain some of the frustration among Amazon workers. Derrick Palmer often produced top numbers on the software that constantly tracked productivity, and had been selected to train others and help open a warehouse in Illinois.

But when he sought a promotion in early 2020 he was among 382 people who applied for the position. “If we go beyond the requirements, there’s no reward,” he said.

Bezos, in his final lap as CEO, is now making startling concessions about the system he invented. He recently said “we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success.”

Fascinating side note: Today MacKenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) announced another $2.7B in donations, "attempting to give away a fortune that was enabled by systems in need of change."

"Any wealth is a product of a collective effort,” she said. mackenzie-scott.medium.com/seeding-by-ced…

But our article chronicles truly harsh practices by Amazon, from mistaken firings to second by second monitoring. Our sources are mixed on whether the company’s core stance will change.

“Jeff’s comment makes me think things could change, but it may be too late to reverse the damage it has done,” one former leader said.

“Let’s see if they can innovate their way out of this.”

Final note: Amazon declined to make Bezos available for an interview, and he has barely spoken to reporters in years. But @kyweise @gr_ashford and I would still welcome the chance to discuss all of this with him.