Amazon's offices badly need an upgrade
When it comes to culture, Amazon is nothing like its high-tech, Silicon Valley-based rivals. It sees itself as a money-making powerhouse, not an organisation that is doing things that will fundamentally make the world a better place.
You can see this in the company’s attitude towards its employees. The firm could quite easily offer people better pay and conditions, but it chooses instead to keep wages as low as possible, especially in the warehouse end of its business.
Employees have to work hour after hour with the minimum of breaks, fulfilling orders from the firm’s hordes of customers. Reports surfaced last year that workers were denied bathroom breaks, a claim that the company vehemently denies.
This approach couldn’t be more different from the likes of the other FAANG stocks. While those companies work their people hard, they have more of a carrot and less of a stick approach.
Google, for instance, makes itself attractive to talented people from around the world by transforming its offices into environments that are more akin to resorts. When you step onto a Google campus anywhere in the world, you’re immediately struck by just how fun everything looks. Google wants its employees to feel as if they are playing while they are at work, inventing new technologies, and delivering products that customers will love.
Apple has a similar approach. The company’s new campus is nothing short of stunning, providing practically every facility that you can imagine for its 10,000 or so workers. There’s a gym, spa, racket courts, and a host of wellness services, right there on site.
When it comes to Amazon, though, there’s none of this stuff. The company’s head offices don’t look like they have developed since the 1970s with little or no focus on the people who actually work there. Interestingly, the company doesn’t even put its logo on the front door. It’s mind-bogglingly generic.
Refit companies like Maris point out that a dreary office is not ideal. It’s not just about branding - it’s also about the atmosphere that it creates. The likes of Apple, Google, Salesforce, and Cisco have all understood this for years. They know that if they invest in their offices, then they will attract the world’s top talent - the key ingredient to their success.
Amazon doesn’t see things in this way at all. It hasn’t followed the trend of adding helter-skelters or ball pits to its offices - and it’s not just because it hasn’t thought of it. Instead, the company is against it on a philosophical level.
The thing to understand about Amazon is that it is not a company that came out of tech startup cultures. Sure, people consider it a tech company now, but that’s not where its origins lie. Instead, it is very much the product of the retail environment - one in which margins are low, and profits are slim.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the company head offices are just as dour as those of other major retailers across the country.