5 ms·

I wonder when Amazon will break itself apart (a la Alphabet) in order to lessen regulatory scrutiny?

6ak74rfy 9y ago
I have been wondering the same thing. How would that affect employees though? For instance, employee movement within Amazon is straightforward today, but will that still be the case if Amazon went the Alphabet way?
- rifung 9y ago
  Employee movement between companies in Alphabet is not really different than movement within Google. I would consider movement within Amazon to be more difficult than movement within Alphabet as you have to interview again for your new team at Amazon, or at least this was the case when I was there. (I work at Google and previously worked at AWS)
  - simsla 9y ago
    Does the recipient team of an internal transfer at Google not conduct any kind of interview? (I'm not talking about your traditional whiteboard interview, but surely people meet up and make sure that the transfer meets the bar of the new team?) I've noticed that expected skill for a job level depends strongly on location, so trying to sync up with a transfer doesn't feel strange to me.
    - rifung 9y ago
      Sorry I should have been more precise. The manager has to approve the transfer so presumably they would talk to you first to make sure you're a good fit and give you more context into the role. So I suppose although it's not called an interview, it basically is one.
zombieprocesses 9y ago
Alphabet didn't break itself apart. It reorganized. There is a big difference. Standard Oil was broken apart into different companies.
- greyfox 9y ago
  your stated difference being that one occured before, while the other after, an antitrust lawsuit?
  - zombieprocesses 9y ago
    My point is that alphabet is still 1 company. Standard Oil was broken up into many different companies. Alphabet wasn't broken up. It is 1 company. There is a difference between reorganization within 1 company and breaking up a company into separate companies. Not sure how else I can explain it. Standard Oil was broken up into separate companies - which eventually become exxon,amaco,mobile,chevron,etc. Alphabet just reorganized their corporate structure. Meaning after the reorganization, google, youtube, deepmind, etc remained part of alphabet. Exxon, Amaco, Mobile, chevron, etc were not part of standard oil after the break up.

I have been wondering the same thing. How would that affect employees though? For instance, employee movement within Amazon is straightforward today, but will that still be the case if Amazon went the Alphabet way?

rifung 9y ago
Employee movement between companies in Alphabet is not really different than movement within Google. I would consider movement within Amazon to be more difficult than movement within Alphabet as you have to interview again for your new team at Amazon, or at least this was the case when I was there. (I work at Google and previously worked at AWS)
- simsla 9y ago
  Does the recipient team of an internal transfer at Google not conduct any kind of interview? (I'm not talking about your traditional whiteboard interview, but surely people meet up and make sure that the transfer meets the bar of the new team?) I've noticed that expected skill for a job level depends strongly on location, so trying to sync up with a transfer doesn't feel strange to me.
  - rifung 9y ago
    Sorry I should have been more precise. The manager has to approve the transfer so presumably they would talk to you first to make sure you're a good fit and give you more context into the role. So I suppose although it's not called an interview, it basically is one.

zombieprocesses 9y ago

Alphabet didn't break itself apart. It reorganized. There is a big difference. Standard Oil was broken apart into different companies.

greyfox 9y ago
your stated difference being that one occured before, while the other after, an antitrust lawsuit?
- zombieprocesses 9y ago
  My point is that alphabet is still 1 company. Standard Oil was broken up into many different companies. Alphabet wasn't broken up. It is 1 company. There is a difference between reorganization within 1 company and breaking up a company into separate companies. Not sure how else I can explain it. Standard Oil was broken up into separate companies - which eventually become exxon,amaco,mobile,chevron,etc. Alphabet just reorganized their corporate structure. Meaning after the reorganization, google, youtube, deepmind, etc remained part of alphabet. Exxon, Amaco, Mobile, chevron, etc were not part of standard oil after the break up.