Does Amazon Have the Worst Culture Ever?

I wouldn’t want to be Jeff Bezos today.

This past Saturday, The New York Times published a pretty hefty article by Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld titled “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace.” It is a rather complete takedown of the company from over 100 interviews of current and former employees, and contains tidbits like this:

Some workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and other personal crises said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out rather than given time to recover.

“Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”

“One time I didn’t sleep for four days straight.”

After Max Shipley, a father of two young children, left this spring, he wondered if Amazon would “bring in college kids who have fewer commitments, who are single, who have more time to focus on work.” Mr. Shipley is 25.

Unfortunately, the story at Amazon rings all too familiar for me. While their company is headquartered in Seattle, it might as well be any company Silicon Valley.

The Core Values of Amazon are clearly stated, and the employees of the company all know prior to starting what the “Guiding Principles” are. They are so ingrained that they become a mantra, and some people even teach them to their children.

In order to have a company that is as successful as Amazon, you need to have everyone in tune, and the “Social Darwinism” does cause people who don’t understand to look upon it with disdain.

Other companies, that are even more successful than Amazon, have offered “Perks” such as Surrogacy and Egg Freezing (as well as housekeeping, day care, etc) thinly veiled attempts to offer employees a way to spend more time where it matters — at work.

Like many of those at Amazon, I chose to leave that behind to focus on myself. Now I help others find their balance.

So, what do you think — Is Amazon alone in this or is this a more widespread issue?

Heather Wilde is a Coach, Speaker and author of Fundamentals of Evernote as well as the CTO of ROCeteer. You can find her musings on Entrepreneurship and Business Strategy and other things here. For more insights like this one, you can join her free newsletter and receive a free business strategy guide.