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I'm very curious how (or if at all) this thinking has been applied to Netflix's hourly employees. Basic customer service, distribution center folks, etc who ha

I'm very curious how (or if at all) this thinking has been applied to Netflix's hourly employees. Basic customer service, distribution center folks, etc who have more structured jobs to do. The distinction is briefly touched on at the beginning, but I'd love to hear more.

tibbon 14y ago
I too am very interested in this. Netflix and Amazon both seem to be amazing companies to work for - if you're in the right class/caste/level of employment. If you're a developer or similar working for corporate, it sounds great. If you're working in the factory-like fulfillment warehouses, it sounds less great. There are few stories I've heard of the companies applying equal policies to both. I've heard of even fewer stories of people moving between the two classes of employees- or of the companies creating opportunities for them to do so. But moreso, instead of demonizing the companies for any practices on their hourly employees- I'm curious to know if its possible to apply these forward-thinking policies to 'unskilled labor' or hourly workers from an organizational perspective. Or are these types of policies only workable for certain types of jobs? Have there been any large (and recent) experiments done with applying this type of management to hourly employees?
- Evbn 14y ago
  Hourly fulfillment employees do work at marginal cost (linear relationship between revenue and labor) that doesn't have the multiplier effect that corporate office work has. Thus there is a hard ceiling on sustainable wage level. For a lawyer it is high. For packaging $5 books it is not.
Klinky 14y ago
I worked at the call center in Oregon. The vibe at the beginning was positive for the most part, but deteriorated into typical call center anarchy. Chronic turnover at all levels(usually a new call center head everyone 3 - 6 months), poor communication(surprise!, new product or marketing launch today!), fear used as primary tactic to motivate(we'll fire you if you don't hit your numbers), benefit and perks stripped away(here's some cake, btw no more discounted bus passes), no upward mobility(become a manager and get fired in a few months), and other stuff. The document is a joke when compared with the experience of hourly employees.

tibbon 14y ago

I too am very interested in this. Netflix and Amazon both seem to be amazing companies to work for - if you're in the right class/caste/level of employment. If you're a developer or similar working for corporate, it sounds great. If you're working in the factory-like fulfillment warehouses, it sounds less great. There are few stories I've heard of the companies applying equal policies to both. I've heard of even fewer stories of people moving between the two classes of employees- or of the companies creating opportunities for them to do so. But moreso, instead of demonizing the companies for any practices on their hourly employees- I'm curious to know if its possible to apply these forward-thinking policies to 'unskilled labor' or hourly workers from an organizational perspective. Or are these types of policies only workable for certain types of jobs? Have there been any large (and recent) experiments done with applying this type of management to hourly employees?

Evbn 14y ago
Hourly fulfillment employees do work at marginal cost (linear relationship between revenue and labor) that doesn't have the multiplier effect that corporate office work has. Thus there is a hard ceiling on sustainable wage level. For a lawyer it is high. For packaging $5 books it is not.

Klinky 14y ago

I worked at the call center in Oregon. The vibe at the beginning was positive for the most part, but deteriorated into typical call center anarchy. Chronic turnover at all levels(usually a new call center head everyone 3 - 6 months), poor communication(surprise!, new product or marketing launch today!), fear used as primary tactic to motivate(we'll fire you if you don't hit your numbers), benefit and perks stripped away(here's some cake, btw no more discounted bus passes), no upward mobility(become a manager and get fired in a few months), and other stuff. The document is a joke when compared with the experience of hourly employees.