Jeff Bezos Says Amazon Needs to Do Better for Employees in Last Investor Letter as CEO

Bezos plans to work on how to make Amazon's workhouses safer in his new role as executive chairman.

By Reuters | Updated: 16 April 2021 10:06 IST

Jeff Bezos Says Amazon Needs to Do Better for Employees in Last Investor Letter as CEO

Jeff Bezos said that reports that Amazon's workers were treated "as robots" were inaccurate

Highlights

Amazon has been criticised for having harsh working conditions
Bezos pushed back against that criticism in his letter
Bezos said he planned to work on how to make Amazon's workhouses safer

Amazon needs to do better at taking care of its employees, Jeff Bezos said on Thursday in his final letter to shareholders as chief executive officer of the online retail giant.

Bezos' comments came just days after Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama voted against forming a union by a more than 2-to-1 margin — a major win for the retailer that has fiercely resisted unionization for decades.

His last letter to shareholders as Amazon CEO can be read here.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

"While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it's clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees," Bezos, the world's richest man, wrote in the letter.

"I think we need to do a better job for our employees."

Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the US, has been criticised by some of its 800,000 employees for having harsh working conditions.

Bezos pushed back against that criticism in his letter, saying that reports that the company's workers were treated "as robots" were inaccurate.

Bezos, who is stepping down later this year as CEO of the company he founded in 1994, said he planned to work on how to make Amazon's workhouses safer in his new role as executive chairman.

"His (Bezos') admission won't change anything, workers need a union – not just another Amazon public relations effort in damage control," Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said in a statement.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

Why did LG give up on its smartphone business? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 22:00), we talk about the new co-op RPG shooter Outriders. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.