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It’s easier for Amazon; they’re so cheap they hate employees traveling even in healthy times.

by new_realist 7y ago

akhilcacharya 7y ago
The PMs/TPMs I know travel constantly.
- mav3rick 7y ago
  The travel cap is so ridiculously low. Even a 3 to 4 star hotel was over cap in South Africa and my PM friend had to pay out of pocket. Amazon truly hates its employees. The least they could do is free Prime but no not even that. Well let's start with bathroom breaks for the warehouse people first.
  - otterley 7y ago
    I work for AWS - opinions are my own and not of the company. I don't know about your "friend," but I don't share their experience. I have occasionally had to stay in hotels that were more expensive than the "reasonable price" listed due to higher fees than normal. Sometimes it's impossible to get a room in Seattle or New York -- or especially San Francisco -- for less than $300 a night, especially during busy seasons like summertime. The travel portal does warn you if a room charge is in excess of "reasonable" rates, but it will still allow you to book your stay. And I have never had a hotel room expense claim denied after the fact, even if I had to pay excess rates. Overall, my impression of our travel and expense policies is that they are totally reasonable. I've had far fewer issues traveling as an Amazon employee than I have at other companies. The only hard limit that's ever been imposed on us is that we must fly economy coach rates; any excess must be paid out of pocket or come out of airline frequent flier benefits. And there are even some exceptions now for extremely long flights for some employees, where they are permitted to upgrade to Premium Economy.
    - mav3rick 7y ago
      At G you can regularly fly business. If you save the company money you can use the credits for upgrades in your next business related trip. I found that I am way more productive when I am flying half way across the world and am well rested in the flight.
      - akhilcacharya 7y ago
        Nice, I guess? In the era of gigabit broadband and zoom/chime/hangouts/etc i'm not sure why an engineer would even need to travel half way across the world to even need to be "well rested". Is there something more you're trying to say here? That we are less valuable or something?
        mav3rick 7y ago
        Aah, have you ever tried working on a project with a team from a different time zone. It can get slow when time zones don't sync. We travel to get face time and really prototype some difficult stuff. You're trying to defend Amazon's behavior by undermining face to face interaction. I am trying to reinforce the parent point in this thread. That Amazon is cheap even more so when it comes to travel.
        otterley 7y ago
        Frugality is one of Amazon’s leadership principles. The flight class restriction is consistent with that. It helps them keep doing things like building new things and lowering prices for customers. There are other ways Amazonians get rest, like flying the day before a meeting and staying in a hotel the night before. And even with the added hotel and meals expenses, the total cost is often cheaper than flying business class. Again, just my opinion, not speaking for Amazon.
        mav3rick 7y ago
        At G you still get to fly in before. Amazon has enough money. They just don't want to spend it on employees. There's a reason churn is so bad there.
mav3rick 7y ago
So true

It’s easier for Amazon; they’re so cheap they hate employees traveling even in healthy times.

akhilcacharya 7y ago

The PMs/TPMs I know travel constantly.

mav3rick 7y ago
The travel cap is so ridiculously low. Even a 3 to 4 star hotel was over cap in South Africa and my PM friend had to pay out of pocket. Amazon truly hates its employees. The least they could do is free Prime but no not even that. Well let's start with bathroom breaks for the warehouse people first.
- otterley 7y ago
  I work for AWS - opinions are my own and not of the company. I don't know about your "friend," but I don't share their experience. I have occasionally had to stay in hotels that were more expensive than the "reasonable price" listed due to higher fees than normal. Sometimes it's impossible to get a room in Seattle or New York -- or especially San Francisco -- for less than $300 a night, especially during busy seasons like summertime. The travel portal does warn you if a room charge is in excess of "reasonable" rates, but it will still allow you to book your stay. And I have never had a hotel room expense claim denied after the fact, even if I had to pay excess rates. Overall, my impression of our travel and expense policies is that they are totally reasonable. I've had far fewer issues traveling as an Amazon employee than I have at other companies. The only hard limit that's ever been imposed on us is that we must fly economy coach rates; any excess must be paid out of pocket or come out of airline frequent flier benefits. And there are even some exceptions now for extremely long flights for some employees, where they are permitted to upgrade to Premium Economy.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    At G you can regularly fly business. If you save the company money you can use the credits for upgrades in your next business related trip. I found that I am way more productive when I am flying half way across the world and am well rested in the flight.
    - akhilcacharya 7y ago
      Nice, I guess? In the era of gigabit broadband and zoom/chime/hangouts/etc i'm not sure why an engineer would even need to travel half way across the world to even need to be "well rested". Is there something more you're trying to say here? That we are less valuable or something?
      - mav3rick 7y ago
        Aah, have you ever tried working on a project with a team from a different time zone. It can get slow when time zones don't sync. We travel to get face time and really prototype some difficult stuff. You're trying to defend Amazon's behavior by undermining face to face interaction. I am trying to reinforce the parent point in this thread. That Amazon is cheap even more so when it comes to travel.
        otterley 7y ago
        Frugality is one of Amazon’s leadership principles. The flight class restriction is consistent with that. It helps them keep doing things like building new things and lowering prices for customers. There are other ways Amazonians get rest, like flying the day before a meeting and staying in a hotel the night before. And even with the added hotel and meals expenses, the total cost is often cheaper than flying business class. Again, just my opinion, not speaking for Amazon.
        mav3rick 7y ago
        At G you still get to fly in before. Amazon has enough money. They just don't want to spend it on employees. There's a reason churn is so bad there.

mav3rick 7y ago

So true