AWS Extends Hiring Freeze for 'Most' Teams Into 2023 and Targets Low Performers on Teams That Grew Too Fast (fortune.com) 30
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing subsidiary of Amazon, is asking managers to weed out underperforming workers on teams that have grown too fast, and will extend a hiring freeze across the organization into the first quarter of 2023 as the business seeks to keep costs in check amid slowing growth. Fortune: In a meeting this week, numerous AWS managers were informed that a hiring freeze that began earlier this month would continue into the first three months of the new year, but that layoffs were not currently planned at AWS, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The lack of layoffs was greeted with relief by some AWS insiders, given the recent news that parent company Amazon was eliminating roughly 10,000 jobs across its retail and devices operations, as well as in human resources. Some AWS teams may still shrink however, as the business takes steps to reduce staffing levels in groups that are currently above their headcount targets for the year. Managers of such teams are expected to "fix" the situation by the end of Q1 next year by managing out low performers through performance improvement plans, attrition, and other means, the person told Fortune.
The lack of layoffs was greeted with relief by some AWS insiders, given the recent news that parent company Amazon was eliminating roughly 10,000 jobs across its retail and devices operations, as well as in human resources. Some AWS teams may still shrink however, as the business takes steps to reduce staffing levels in groups that are currently above their headcount targets for the year. Managers of such teams are expected to "fix" the situation by the end of Q1 next year by managing out low performers through performance improvement plans, attrition, and other means, the person told Fortune.
hire to fire with no hireing to save teams? (Score:1)
hire to fire with no hiring to save teams?
so good teams will be forced to cut people they really need and others will need to suck it up and put in that 100 hour week to not get cut.
Where is the union to stop this BS?
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people they really need
You're assuming their needed. Likely they're dead weight, TikToking all day and indulging meeting therapy. When you hire as fast as these big tech social media platforms have been you end up with a lot of that.
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Re: hire to fire with no hireing to save teams? (Score:1)
We get fired for political reasons, rarely for lack of (team) performance...
Re:hire to fire with no hireing to save teams? (Score:5, Interesting)
By and large, very doubtful - at least when it comes to AWS. Been there, did that. The interview process for even their most basic positions is pretty extensive and requires video-conferences with multiple team members. There are even a few "key" questions thrown in the mix where not giving the specific response they're seeking will mean you're not offered the job.
What usually happens is someone falls short of some new or upgraded expectation (because they're constantly moving the goal-posts of what they expect from people in a given group). Once you get hit with the PIP, you're as good as terminated, really. At that point, you're under a microscope and while you *might* squeak by and come out ok on the other side? Most people I knew there were happy to resign and go find a less stressful and more reasonable employer to work for, vs fighting to stay there when their boss clearly considers them one of the expendable ones.
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By and large, very doubtful - at least when it comes to AWS. Been there, did that. The interview process for even their most basic positions is pretty extensive and requires video-conferences with multiple team members. There are even a few "key" questions thrown in the mix where not giving the specific response they're seeking will mean you're not offered the job.
I can confirm this is true. Before an interview (which is going to be most of a day), they will have an HR rep call you and verify that you received the documents with all of Amazon's "Leadership Principles" and that you've studied them and you know how to answer interview questions. Every answer to every question in an interview must align with one of the Leadership Principles. If it doesn't, you won't get the job.
Amazon is a cult.
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Likely they're dead weight, TikToking all day and indulging meeting therapy.
This is Amazon, not pre-Musk Twitter or Google. Amazon is famous/infamous for tight reigns on employee time and thorough monitoring of their activities to measure productivity. I really, really doubt there was much TikToking going on at AWS. About the only Bezos-owned company that you'll get away with that stuff is the Washington Post, because he takes a hands-off approach to that property. But if you're working at Amazon or Blue Origin, most of your day is probably spoken for.
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Amazon is famous/infamous for tight reigns on employee time
in the warehouses, AWS is something different
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AWS isn't social media.
Excuse... (Score:1)
Low performers meaning? (Score:4, Informative)
Low performers who increase the work of others, or low performers that get some useful work done, albeit inefficiently? There is a difference. For one thing, firing the former increases the burden of work even on high performers. People *like* to believe that it's the former being fired, but then we're relying on the judgment of those who hired them in the first place .. which is likely flawed. They are certainly firing people who do get useful work done but inefficiently. So, with these layoffs combined with a hiring freeze, Amazon is telling its good performers "we're going to increase your workload even more!" Congrats.
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the guy who takes one task and does with one ticket gets canned while the guy who who does the same task and makes it into 5 sub tickets gets to keep his job can also happen.
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OK, I muddled that, I obviously meant the latter, not the former. By the way, since we're going on anecdotal experiences, I have spent my entire career in Silicon Valley and have worked at or for "successful tech orgs", have a lot of friends, and have seen multiple layoff cycles. Enough to know the ideal you describe never happens .. in fact the norm after layoffs (correlation/causation not sure) is a downspiral. I remember what happened at companies like HP, Sun, and numerous other companies that screwed u
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Spoken like a true "low performer"...
Managing out? (Score:3)
Can they doublespeak any harder? They're supposed to fix excessive headcounts by
managing out low performers through performance improvement plans, attrition, and other means
I can't help but notice that performance improvement CANNOT fix excessive headcounts. The ONLY thing other than attrition (aka firing someone if nobody quits) is transferring them to another team - which is notably NOT mentioned as an option.
Really hard to read that as anything other than "fire someone - but don't blame it on us"
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Performance improvement plans have never been about improving performance. They are a tool to build up a paper trail to fire somebody without having to pay them any significant severance.
Re: Managing out? (Score:2)
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PIPs aren't about improving your performance. They're more about "management has decided to get rid of you. HR needs a documented reason in case of lawsuit".
The pattern usually goes like this:
Director: We need to let Bob go. Find a reason.
Manager: Uhh - Ok. How about "Communication skills".
Director: I like it.
Manager: Bob, we've identified "communication skills" as an area that needs improvement. You have two months.
Bob: What does that mean? Can you give me some examples or metrics?
Manager: Nope.
Manager: It
DOES.NOT.COMPUTE (Score:2)
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing subsidiary of Amazon, is asking managers to weed out underperforming workers on teams that have grown too fast
numerous AWS managers were informed that a hiring freeze that began earlier this month would continue into the first three months of the new year, but that layoffs were not currently planned at AWS
WAT
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