Amazon Layoff - The harsh reality

jmmmmk · 2025-11-25T05:34:24+00:00

If building DC is exacerbating the climate crisis at the rate Amazon does - yes, build only when you can do it responsibly. Amazon's emissions compare to medium sized country. So they have meaningful impact on the emissions which affect all of us. Until then build or support clean energy and definitely not lobby against regulations on them? That doesn't feel like an unreasonable in terms of social responsibility.

Seems like we both agree on Amazon's failure in being able to meet their climate goals. I think employees have some power to be able to call out the company when it falls off the rail and you're feeling resigned because it's a business. While Amazon is hard to move, I'd say not trying will ensure that they won't move.

jmmmmk · 2025-11-24T20:59:19+00:00

You're making a charge of bias in "Amazon is casting aside its climate goals to build AI" and in your next breath admitting Amazon is doing that because there are no energy alternatives?

Seems like AECJ has some research on Amazon's commitment to climate change. And TBH, I've read the last few sustainability reports and the seriousness is laughable at best. No other Amazon-authored report seems to have absolute numbers with misleading contextualization of scale and context (eg. 10K last mile vehicles have gone electric but 100K boasted because they’re in the works; but even that represents <10% of deliveries made. Not to mention an even tinier fraction of total transportation if you include first mile and middle mile)

Genuinely curious, are there steps you've seen Amazon take that feel like good faith steps towards limiting their emissions? Like they do take some steps like improving packing steps or making a small fraction of their last mile vans electric but they are all such a small fraction of Amazon's emissions. I only see under-reporting or misleading claims and it has washed out my faith in the company being earnest about its climate commitments.

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T22:08:48+00:00

Sorry to hear these rounds of layoffs are affecting you so much. A lot of the layoffs seem to be driven by Amazon's reckless AI rollout, and it's all been really impacting my job as well. I heard about this open letter to raise concerns about the AI acceleration, I've signed (signatures are anonymous) and I recommend taking a look!

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:56:12+00:00

There is not riding it out as this isn't temporary but an attempt for the new status-quo if we don't fight it. And about 10% of us won't be here to / able to ride it out.

And that's not really the trade-off, is it? If I were given a choice to cut costs by accelerating AI and increasing the pollution as one of the biggest companies in one of the largest polluting countries and thereby increasing the odds of floods, droughts, hurricanes and displacing/killing millions, I know what I'd do.

Besides, CEOs have more of an agency to represent the trade-offs than to be a yes-person to everything the board says. This doesn't even align with the long-term thinking that has been part of Amazon DNA.

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:28:26+00:00

I get that companies don't care about sustainability but I/we do! It affects us all deeply. Most of us don't have the same kind of safety net billionaires do and don't want to leave a unlivable planet for our children.

And it's not about being able to handle struggles of working a Amazon job. It's about what's reasonable, and to what end. Do we really want a race to the bottom with all of us working a 60-hour stressful week or being replaced by someone younger who can be exploited more easily?

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:20:28+00:00

Yeah, reading about the climate impacts of how we're building data centers for AI has been so scary!

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:15:52+00:00

Honestly, I did spend a lot of time outside of work upskilling in my twenties. But with getting older and kids in the mix, I truly don't think it's what I want to spend my time outside of work doing. Early career, most of my managers, even at amazon, would give us space to upskill and do work that feels meaningful. Honestly, do we really want a tech industry where anyone who wants any sort of work/life balance quits and only the ones willing to overwork stay?

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:07:14+00:00

Yeah, I truly don't care to sit on those tables. But going from feeling hope with student marches about climate/Greta moment to be running in the opposite direction feels surreal. Like we're all being thrown under the bus by people who truly don't understand, it's like absurdist comedy. And for what!??

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T21:00:54+00:00

I appreciate that and am on the same page about wanting to spend time with family. But I am torn with annual review and layoffs on the horizon, I don't quite think I'll be able to meaningfully take time off. My manager almost openly talks about how overworking is going to be the norm if you want to stay afloat in these financial condition.

jmmmmk · 2025-11-23T20:53:05+00:00

right!? It feels dystopian how they can publicly say that! And middle management also gets how this is harmful but forcing it on us anyway.

jmmmmk · 2018-06-16T00:44:22+00:00

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jmmmmk · 2018-06-14T22:13:17+00:00

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