Jeff Bezos says that scathing New York Times report 'doesn't describe the Amazon I know'
The New York Times painted a thorough, terrifying picture Saturday of Amazon's office culture as combative, insensitive to women, and just plain miserable. Reporters Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld interviewed more than 100 current and former employees to get the story, but CEO Jeff Bezos did not speak with them.
Bezos apparently said his piece after the story launched in an internal memo obtained by CNBC. He pushed back against the idea that Amazon is "a soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had and no laughter heard." He also urged unhappy employees to get in touch:
The article doesn't describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day. But if you know of any stories like those reported, I want you to escalate to HR. You can also email me directly at jeff@amazon.com. Even if it's rare or isolated, our tolerance for any such lack of empathy needs to be zero. [CNBC]
Haven't yet waded through the claims Bezos is up against? Take a gander here.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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