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I'm going to take the road less traveled and be critical. For a piece that is essentially about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up, this article is

I'm going to take the road less traveled and be critical. For a piece that is essentially about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up, this article is shoehorning quite an agenda: > I met some of the strongest, most brilliant women of my career there. > I quickly noted, when it came to leadership positions, they were almost all men. > the voices commenting on the New York Times piece so far have been predominantly male leaders of male-dominated teams. > Women power your retail engine. They buy diapers. They buy books. They buy socks for their husbands on Prime. > On behalf of all the people who want to speak up but can’t: Please, make Amazon a more hospitable place for women and parents. > You can’t claim to be a data-driven company and not release more specific numbers on how many women and people of color apply, get hired and promoted, and stay on as employees. Those types of statements can make sense in the right context but they seem out of place here, in this article. I wasn't able to make that connection that she seems to be able to make readily and without effort.

busterarm 11y ago
Also, at the same time that she resigned from Amazon, several other editors did as well and returned to more standard publishing jobs. This was right at the peak of the Amazon/Hachette beef. If you're an editor, it's not a big leap to realize that if you need a new job after Amazon, you're going to be less and less welcome the more time you spend there. Some of her other projects fit in with the comments you quoted.
jordan0day 11y ago
I'm pretty sure the point of the article was about women and Amazon, not "about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up". The health insurance "screw up" only occurred because she was on maternity leave. As a man, this isn't necessarily my area of expertise, but I'm pretty sure only women can go on maternity leave. That's not to say this couldn't also happen to a new father on paternity leave... but paternity leave barely exists in the US to begin with.
- deleted 11y ago
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elektromekatron 11y ago
It was an article about what happened to the author with her maternity leave. The relevance is that if you screw with maternity leave then you make your work environment toxic for anyone that gets pregnant, which only affects your female employees, and then usually well before they get anywhere near upper management. For a general retailer, this is not a good plan.
cpeterso 11y ago
> a piece that is essentially about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up Did you miss the second half of the article where her team taken from her and she was placed on a PIP when she returned from maternity leave?
- coderdude 11y ago
  Clearly I read the entire article. I don't consider that to be relevant to the quotes I pulled and I'll explain why. She had a team, she went away for several months, the team needed be reassigned and when she returned, she (rightfully) expected to be returned to that same leadership position. But, what had happened, was that the team was reassigned. That much makes sense. I'm sure she got screwed over in that situation but I still don't make the connection she's drawing.
  - RogerL 11y ago
    You are treated like crap in multiple ways at Amazon is the connection.
    - coderdude 11y ago
      Being treated like crap doesn't automatically mean you're being treated like crap because of your gender or race. Right? I can't be the only person who believes that.
      - bonaldi 11y ago
        Amazon apparently doesn't have proper maternity leave procedures in place: if you go on mat leave it treats it like you left the company and your team gets reassigned. That's crap treatment that will only happen to one gender.
        coderdude 11y ago
        They have paternity leave, too. You're making a claim that can actually be verified so if you have any information to put forward, please do.
whyleyc 11y ago
I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to "make the connection" here. I read the piece as a commentary on Amazon's lacklustre (or worse) HR department, poor parental leave policies and systemic aversion to women in leadership rather than a "health insurance screw up". That seemed to be a subplot in a more wider issue - Amazon's callous disregard for employees and a culture which seems to actively discourage women from reaching executive leadership positions.
oldmanjay 11y ago
The narrative must be served at all costs. Do not oppose the narrative.
brahadeesh 11y ago
Like a couple of others pointed out, I don't think the piece is essentially about a health insurance screw up. I think it's about how bad the relationship between Amazon and its women is.

busterarm 11y ago

Also, at the same time that she resigned from Amazon, several other editors did as well and returned to more standard publishing jobs. This was right at the peak of the Amazon/Hachette beef. If you're an editor, it's not a big leap to realize that if you need a new job after Amazon, you're going to be less and less welcome the more time you spend there. Some of her other projects fit in with the comments you quoted.

jordan0day 11y ago

I'm pretty sure the point of the article was about women and Amazon, not "about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up". The health insurance "screw up" only occurred because she was on maternity leave. As a man, this isn't necessarily my area of expertise, but I'm pretty sure only women can go on maternity leave. That's not to say this couldn't also happen to a new father on paternity leave... but paternity leave barely exists in the US to begin with.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

elektromekatron 11y ago

It was an article about what happened to the author with her maternity leave. The relevance is that if you screw with maternity leave then you make your work environment toxic for anyone that gets pregnant, which only affects your female employees, and then usually well before they get anywhere near upper management. For a general retailer, this is not a good plan.

cpeterso 11y ago

> a piece that is essentially about a (painful and harsh) health insurance screw-up Did you miss the second half of the article where her team taken from her and she was placed on a PIP when she returned from maternity leave?

coderdude 11y ago
Clearly I read the entire article. I don't consider that to be relevant to the quotes I pulled and I'll explain why. She had a team, she went away for several months, the team needed be reassigned and when she returned, she (rightfully) expected to be returned to that same leadership position. But, what had happened, was that the team was reassigned. That much makes sense. I'm sure she got screwed over in that situation but I still don't make the connection she's drawing.
- RogerL 11y ago
  You are treated like crap in multiple ways at Amazon is the connection.
  - coderdude 11y ago
    Being treated like crap doesn't automatically mean you're being treated like crap because of your gender or race. Right? I can't be the only person who believes that.
    - bonaldi 11y ago
      Amazon apparently doesn't have proper maternity leave procedures in place: if you go on mat leave it treats it like you left the company and your team gets reassigned. That's crap treatment that will only happen to one gender.
      - coderdude 11y ago
        They have paternity leave, too. You're making a claim that can actually be verified so if you have any information to put forward, please do.

whyleyc 11y ago

I don't think you need to be a rocket scientist to "make the connection" here. I read the piece as a commentary on Amazon's lacklustre (or worse) HR department, poor parental leave policies and systemic aversion to women in leadership rather than a "health insurance screw up". That seemed to be a subplot in a more wider issue - Amazon's callous disregard for employees and a culture which seems to actively discourage women from reaching executive leadership positions.

oldmanjay 11y ago

The narrative must be served at all costs. Do not oppose the narrative.

brahadeesh 11y ago

Like a couple of others pointed out, I don't think the piece is essentially about a health insurance screw up. I think it's about how bad the relationship between Amazon and its women is.