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> We want to operate like the world’s largest startup It's always amusing when a multi-decade-old, multi-hundred-billion-dollar company says stuff like this. Y

> We want to operate like the world’s largest startup It's always amusing when a multi-decade-old, multi-hundred-billion-dollar company says stuff like this. You're not a startup. You never will be. And if you were, you probably would actually offer perks in your offices that might actually encourage people to be there. Instead, the only perk that Amazon has is that you get one free coffee per day, and even that they have tried to remove multiple times. I've never seen a company where it seemed more like the leadership of the company actively despises the employees that worked for them. Between stuff like this and the incessant pushing of Amazon Q against everyone's will, it's really apparent that Amazon execs think that having to employ humans as SDE is a defect they're trying to get rid of ASAP.

tomjakubowski 2y ago
> Instead, the only perk that Amazon has is that you get one free coffee per day, and even that they have tried to remove multiple times. This is crazy, seriously? Apparently no one has written a good enough two-pager arguing that gratis coffee pays for itself with increased productivity
- strivingtobe 2y ago
  They have repeatedly tried to remove the free coffee perk (usually by claiming that it was only intended as a temporary thing and will be removed at the end of the year) and the only reason it has been retained this far is because for multiple years running now there was an internal uproar about it. I suspect at the end of this year they will fully remove it, uproar be damned.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
    That’s so hilariously petty. As if management was not already dictating who is in charge. Can you bring your own cup? Get the Big Gulp 4 liter thermos every day.
  - rty32 2y ago
    That's surprising -- I would think it is obvious Amazon doesn't care about internal uproars, and there is nothing people can do about it. Otherwise the current 3 day RTO wouldn't have happened.
belval 2y ago
I like working there, but Amazon definitely has the worst in-office accomodations. No snacks, no free coffee, for-profit (like 4-5$ for a chocolate bar) vending machines on every second floor, no cafeterias in most building and when they have one it's a hole-in-the-wall that microwaves stuff (except Seattle). In the original RTO email they even pointed the importance of employee spending money in the surrounding restaurants to support the downtime economy as if I should feel personally invested in spending 30$/meal on an overpriced burger for lunch.
- barbazoo 2y ago
  > no free coffee Do they have coin/card operated machines then or just no coffee at all?
  - belval 2y ago
    They have these big dinner-style machines that you can use to brew a large batch of coffee and then put it in large thermos, but honestly the taste is pretty bad (but it is free!) and it requires you to babysit the process. We also have free tea and hot cocoa. In most places employees will also bring a Nespresso machine so you can bring your own pods which is somewhat better. Writing all that I feel like it will come off as extremely entitled. I just want to stress that I personally don't mind much, but having worked for other tech companies, it's definitely at the bottom in terms of "free stuff".
    - lsllc 2y ago
      You can get yourself a nice pour-over setup on Amazon for the office and every two weeks or so buy a bag of small batch coffee at Whole Foods ...
      - barbazoo 2y ago
        Or set up an Amazon subscription for the beans, so convenient
  - pshan 2y ago
deleted 2y ago
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alistairSH 2y ago
Holy crap, not even coffee? That's so laughable. Not that we get great coffee here. It's one of this pod/packet machines. But, it does various teas and some cold drinks as well (fruit/herb infused stuff). So, it works for my second coffee, or a hot cocoa when it's cold outside. We also get free lunch on T/Th, but that's a new thing since COVID (to entice people back), so I'm not counting on it being around forever. But for now, it is a nice perk and encourages some of that chit-chat the executive class tells us is so critical to making them more money.

tomjakubowski 2y ago

> Instead, the only perk that Amazon has is that you get one free coffee per day, and even that they have tried to remove multiple times. This is crazy, seriously? Apparently no one has written a good enough two-pager arguing that gratis coffee pays for itself with increased productivity

strivingtobe 2y ago
They have repeatedly tried to remove the free coffee perk (usually by claiming that it was only intended as a temporary thing and will be removed at the end of the year) and the only reason it has been retained this far is because for multiple years running now there was an internal uproar about it. I suspect at the end of this year they will fully remove it, uproar be damned.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
  That’s so hilariously petty. As if management was not already dictating who is in charge. Can you bring your own cup? Get the Big Gulp 4 liter thermos every day.
- rty32 2y ago
  That's surprising -- I would think it is obvious Amazon doesn't care about internal uproars, and there is nothing people can do about it. Otherwise the current 3 day RTO wouldn't have happened.

belval 2y ago

I like working there, but Amazon definitely has the worst in-office accomodations. No snacks, no free coffee, for-profit (like 4-5$ for a chocolate bar) vending machines on every second floor, no cafeterias in most building and when they have one it's a hole-in-the-wall that microwaves stuff (except Seattle). In the original RTO email they even pointed the importance of employee spending money in the surrounding restaurants to support the downtime economy as if I should feel personally invested in spending 30$/meal on an overpriced burger for lunch.

barbazoo 2y ago
> no free coffee Do they have coin/card operated machines then or just no coffee at all?
- belval 2y ago
  They have these big dinner-style machines that you can use to brew a large batch of coffee and then put it in large thermos, but honestly the taste is pretty bad (but it is free!) and it requires you to babysit the process. We also have free tea and hot cocoa. In most places employees will also bring a Nespresso machine so you can bring your own pods which is somewhat better. Writing all that I feel like it will come off as extremely entitled. I just want to stress that I personally don't mind much, but having worked for other tech companies, it's definitely at the bottom in terms of "free stuff".
  - lsllc 2y ago
    You can get yourself a nice pour-over setup on Amazon for the office and every two weeks or so buy a bag of small batch coffee at Whole Foods ...
    - barbazoo 2y ago
      Or set up an Amazon subscription for the beans, so convenient
- pshan 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

alistairSH 2y ago

Holy crap, not even coffee? That's so laughable. Not that we get great coffee here. It's one of this pod/packet machines. But, it does various teas and some cold drinks as well (fruit/herb infused stuff). So, it works for my second coffee, or a hot cocoa when it's cold outside. We also get free lunch on T/Th, but that's a new thing since COVID (to entice people back), so I'm not counting on it being around forever. But for now, it is a nice perk and encourages some of that chit-chat the executive class tells us is so critical to making them more money.