Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has warned two employees not to speak publicly about its environmental policies. If they continue to do so, they will lose their employment at Amazon. According to a post on Twitter, several employees of Amazon are violating the company’s external communication policy.
Who received the warning from Amazon?
A user experience designer – Maren Costa, is one of the two employees, who received a termination warning from Amazon. She said it is not the right time to silence those who speak against the environmental policies of the company. She also said it is not the time to fire the messengers.
A software engineer engaged in the development also received a warning from Amazon. According to the Washington Post, the lawyers of Amazon served the notices to two employees after they spoke publicly about the company’s business in October 2019.
Amazon changed policy
According to a communiqué from the employee group, Amazon changed its policy in September 2019. As per the new policy, the employees need to seek prior permission from the company to speak in a public forum about the company’s business.
An Amazon spokesman, Jaci Anderson, said the communication policy of Amazon is not new. The company made the process simple for employees in September. It has added a form on its internal website allowing the employees to seek permission. Before implementing this rule, the employees have to seek permission directly from the Senior Vice President. According to Jaci, the company allowed its employees to work in their respective teams and suggest improvements via the internal channels.
Employees put pressure on Jeff Bezos
Several employees have put pressure on Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon, at an annual shareholder meeting held in May 2019 to reduce the carbon footprint by making a comprehensive climate change plan. Jeff has rejected the proposal of its employees. Considering the views of his employees, Jeff has unveiled a plan to run the operations using renewable energy by the year 2030. He also committed to phasing out carbon emissions by the year 2040.
Plan to open offline stores in Germany
According to the newspaper – Die Welt, Amazon is planning to open an offline store in Germany. Amazon is already operating the whole foods market chain and Amazon Go Supermarkets in the UK and the US.
