Shareholders over employees
I have long felt Amazon does not value its employees. Amazon loves data and numbers, so here are some:
- Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world right now.
- Amazon reported that it made $1.6 billion in profit during the first three months of 2018, more than double the same period a year earlier.
- shares of Amazon jumped as much as 7% in after hours trading after reporting earnings.
- And Amazon actually has the nerve to raise the price Prime to $119!
Meanwhile...
- Amazon paid no taxes in 2017
- No raises for some employees
- No more stock for some employees
- No bonuses for any employees (except, we imagine, the CFO Brian Olslavsky, who no doubt got a boatload of rewards for successfully getting Amazon out of paying taxes)
- Monthly parking subsidies reduced -- even though Jeff B., who gets a ride to work, chose a downtown sprawl of buildings with very expensive parking, then decided, as the richest man in the world, to pass that cost along to employees, who did not.
- No frills, no extras, and once the high of the initial $$$ wears off...lower salaries and fewer benefits than other Seattle tech employers.