To: leadership-has-decided@amazon.com
New series - Emails I’ll Never Send. Post #1
I’m no longer at Amazon, and some of this is fictionalized. But my feelings aren’t.
To: leadership-has-decided@amazon.com; deliver-results@amazon.com; hire-and-develop-the-best@amazon.com; strive-to-be-earths-best-employer@amazon.com
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Our continued focus on efficiency
You called her “essential” in October layoffs, and “impacted” in January. Couldn’t let a little workforce reduction fuck up re:Invent. Big thanks to everyone who made it happen. Proud of this team. It’s always day 1!
She joined the team two years ago. Said “happy to help” when she wasn’t. Said “makes sense” when it didn’t. Said “sure” to the 9pm call after telling her kid she’d put her to bed tonight.
I found out at 3:37am. I know because I was already awake… third time this week. My wife asked if I was okay, and I said yeah.
Our SVP of HR posted on LinkedIn 7 days ago “Proud to be recognized as a top employer.” I and 625 people liked it. 625 people liked it.
Standup started. No one’s mentioned her so far. Manager’s going through the board - fifteen points due this Friday. At least I poured my coffee before this. At least it’s still hot. Oh. My turn.
“No blockers.”
Next Up: Behavior Interview Series - How to answer ‘Tell me about a time you failed.’