Name: Bezos says Amazon workers aren’t treated like robots, unveils robotic plan to keep them working
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Bezos says Amazon workers aren’t treated like robots, unveils robotic plan to keep them working

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The Verge logo. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in his as CEO that the e-commerce giant has to “do a better job for our employees.” The letter comes amid ongoing reports of untenable conditions for Amazon workers. And it outlines a strategy that seems odd for a company that has been accused of treating workers like robots: a robotic scheme that will develop new staffing schedules using an algorithm.Bezos pushed back on the idea that, according to news reports, Amazon doesn’t care for its employees. “In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not accurate,” he wrote.To address concerns about working conditions, Bezos said the company will develop new staffing schedules “that use sophisticated algorithms to rotate employees among jobs that use different muscle-tendon groups to decrease repetitive motion and help protect employees from MSD risks.” The technology will roll out throughout 2021, he said. In addition to giving a nod to working conditions at Amazon, the letter is the first time Bezos has publicly addressed the failed . “Does your Chair take comfort in the outcome of the recent union vote in Bessemer? No, he doesn’t,” Bezos wrote. “I think we need to do a better job for our employees. While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better&nbsp;vision&nbsp;for how we create value for employees – a vision for their success.”Amazon issued earlier this month, after it &nbsp;to Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) that its workers have not ever had to pee in water bottles to meet their work demands. This is &nbsp;because of&nbsp; workers. An Amazon worker as recently as late March that bathroom breaks (or the lack of) were still a problem. “You’re sitting there and you have to go take a piss, but you don’t want to rack up ‘time off task,’”&nbsp;the worker said. In addition, Amazon is facing .Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that led the Bessemer unionization drive, said in a statement Thursday that the impact of the union drive, regardless of the outcome, has been “devastating” for Amazon’s reputation. “We have initiated a global debate about the way Amazon treats its employees,” Appelbaum wrote. “Bezos’s admission today demonstrates that what we have been saying about workplace conditions is correct. But his admission won’t change anything, workers need a union&nbsp;–&nbsp;not just another Amazon public relations effort in damage control.”Most PopularAUber will pay $100 million to New Jersey for misclassifying drivers, gets to continue misclassifying them.Gizmodo reports that Uber will pay $100 million in back taxes to the state of New Jersey in response to an audit that concluded the company was misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors. But here’s the thing: Uber will pay any amount of money necessary to , because reclassifying them as employees would cause Uber to cease to exist. [Gizmodo]DVictoria Song says the new Fitbit Inspire 3 feels like a product from 2015.Where is the lie?Worshippers of Elon Musk have flocked to the middle of nowhere in Texas to watch SpaceX’s attempts to build a space-worthy rocket — and to find friends Must ReadsMust ReadsRevolutionizing the media with blog postsNThe Westworld subreddit is anxious the show will be canceled before the final season.Viewership was way down this season, and the recent changes — including — don’t seem to bode well for what’s been a very expensive show. That said, this season started strong and ended with a whimper, so maybe it’s all for the best.fromJNintendo will announce a release date for the delayed Advance Wars reboot “once it has been determined,” the company told Axios.Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp, a Nintendo Switch remaster of the first two Advance Wars titles, was delayed from an April launch . It was absent from .I asked Nintendo if Advance Wars 1 + 2 has been cancelled, given the lack of news about it since it was delayed due to the invasion of Ukraine.Nintendo rep's reply: "The release has been delayed. We will announce the new date once it has been determined."— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo)AAlex Jones is on trial yet again.The InfoWars host lost a defamation case over the Sandy Hook shooting by default, and now, a Connecticut jury will decide what he should pay. It’s a near-repeat of a similar case in Texas — but without that state’s limits on financial damages. Jones’ company has filed for bankruptcy, though, setting up a fight over the money.[The New York Times]EThe retail revolution comes for Congress: Rep. Angie Craig found out her son was trading behind her back.“As a mom, I would be grateful if my college student son was not allowed to own or trade stocks. And as a member of Congress, I’m working to pass a law to force him to listen to his mother,” she told The New York Times.[The New York Times]AApparently Motorola built a fully functional electric Chevy Corvette prototype in the 1990s.The Drive’s Kevin Williams has made what could be one of the greatest EV archeological discoveries of a generation: a 1987 Chevy Corvette EV built by cell-phone pioneer Motorola. This raises so many questions. First and foremost, why the hell was Motorola making cars? Electric cars for that matter? And can I drive it? There’s loads of pics and fun backstory, so I recommend you go check it out. [The Drive]EElon is Elonning again.Musk is wading into the fight between Twitter and security researcher Peiter “Mudge” Zatko again, after. Good luck to whoever at his law firm has been assigned to !Anyone know who the secret clients are? Let’s out them on Twitter rn haha. — Naughtius Maximus (@elonmusk)AThe Twitter whistleblower says he’ll work with Congress on “sorely needed” laws.Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s attorneys say they hope he offered a window into Twitter’s business operations, including details about potential national security risks, during a Senate hearing today. Lawmakers focused on the threat of foreign agents inside Twitter and proposals to reform the FTC.An attorneys' statement:&nbsp;"Mr. Zatko is hopeful that the Committee’s work today has helped educate the public about just how dire the security and privacy situation is at Twitter ... He remains ready, willing and able to be part of the legislative reform that is sorely needed." — Adi Robertson (@thedextriarchy)RMark Zuckerberg has very good lawyers.As a way of dragging its heels in , Meta is trying to get as much court-ordered information as it possibly can on rivals like Snapchat and TikTok.The threat here is less that Meta will discover Snapchat’s secret sauce, and more that this (and a dozen other motions) will overwhelm the FTC’s ability to properly try the case with its existing resources.[Bloomberg.com]PodcastsPodcastsEWaze has more torture for your return to the office.The new “pokes fun at the people we can all become at work — acronym-slinging, jargon-parroting, catchphrase machines,” and features phrases like “Make a U-turn: Or what I call ‘circling back.’” Thanks, Waze, but I think I’ll stick with my Boy Band voice directions for now.Our driving experience for the month is designed to help you drive synergy.Let’s table this discussion and see if you can figure out what it is. — waze (@waze)ASpecialized teases its new e-bike brand Globe with a poem and a cheeky logo.Earlier this year, a new sub-brand called Globe dedicated to building high-quality electric utility bikes that are designed specifically to replace car trips. We still don’t know what these bikes will look like, but today the company released its brand statement in the form of a poem, which is cute. Specialized promises it will have more to say on September 27th, so mark you calendars. Most PopularMost PopularMA woman is suing San Francisco after the city used DNA from her rape kit to arrest her for an unrelated crime.The police’s practice of using DNA from sexual assault victims to identify suspects in other cases came to light . At the time, legal experts said the practice likely violated California’s constitution. It’s yet another example of the posed by growing DNA databases. [CBSNews]MUbisoft’s AAA games are getting more expensive.In an interview with Axios, CEO Yves Guillemot said that “the big AAA games will come at $70,” starting with Skull and Bones. , however, is listed for $50 .[Axios]JI’m convinced Tears of the Kingdom is going to feature time travel in a big way.The for the game is the second to seemingly show Link . The game’s logo is an ouroboros. And , Nintendo says that “Link’s endless adventure begins again” on the game’s release date, May 12th. If only I could time travel to then. EDoesn’t seem like Twitter shareholders see anything new in today’s congressional hearing.Twitter is down less than one percent as I write this, while the rest of the exchange it trades on — the NYSE — is down a little more than two percent.DThe Rick and Morty season 6 premiere is free on YouTube.Putting your show’s pilot or premiere on YouTube is , and I love it. The latest to go free is , everybody’s favorite buddy comedy about space travel and MeeSeeks. A lot about this episode might be confusing if you’ve never seen the show before... but a lot about Rick and Morty is confusing anyway. So enjoy!RTwitter whistleblower Pieter “Mudge” Zatko is testifying before Congress.Twitter’s abandoned plan for an OnlyFans competitor is not popular with Republicans. Two Republican Senators (Kennedy, Blackburn) have now inquired about Twitter's plans to monetize adult content – and failure to deal with child abuse material. &amp; covered the story here: — Corin Faife (@corintxt)AThe cheapest Amazon Kindle got a much-needed update to USB-C,but for me the more exciting news is this thing has 300ppi. That means the display should be nearly as crisp and easy to read as all the other Kindles, but for a lot less money.

The Verge logo. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in his as CEO that the e-commerce giant has to “do a better job for our employees.” The letter comes amid ongoing reports of untenable conditions for Amazon workers. And it outlines a strategy that seems odd for a company that has been accused of treating workers like robots: a robotic scheme that will develop new staffing schedules using an algorithm.Bezos pushed back on the idea that, according to news reports, Amazon doesn’t care for its employees. “In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as...

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The Verge's Weekend Editor Kim Lyons is a Pittsburgh-based journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was the first-ever digital news editor. She's a fan of coffee, hockey and startups, in that order. Ethics statement: Kim’s husband is currently employed by Whole Foods. She therefore doesn’t report on or edit stories about Whole Foods or its competitors.

Bezos says Amazon workers aren’t treated like robots, unveils robotic plan to keep them working

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