It’s not just Amazon that has an unsustainable corporate culture. In the space company Blue Origin, which is led by Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, sexism is ignored, the climate does not matter and safety considerations are pushed aside. A group of anonymous employees and former employees describe in drastic terms internal conditions in the company.
“That there has been no accident is pure luck”
According to the letter, many of them would not fly with the company’s space capsule as it is not safe, one person is quoted as saying: “That no accident has happened so far is pure luck.”
Blue Origin says they want to create a future where millions of people work in space for the benefit of humanity. We are enthusiasts and believe it is necessary to explore the possibilities of our extraterrestrial civilization, but if Blue Origin reflects the future Jeff Bezos imagines, we are heading for the worst in the world we live in now.
Dehumanizing, toxic culture
According to the signatories, 21 current and former employees of Blue Origin are behind the open letter. Only one is named and that is Alexandra Abrams, former HR manager at the company. Everyone describes themselves as space enthusiasts, but the work for Blue Origin has had a massive disillusioning effect on them. A leader with decades of experience in the aviation industry talks about the “worst experience of his life”. Others had suicidal thoughts after working in such a “toxic environment”. Some experiences are described as inhuman.
Absolute fixation on Jeff Bezos
One of the most problematic points in Blue Origins corporate culture is an absolute fixation on Jeff Bezos. One of the most frequently asked questions at management meetings has been: “When does Elon fly [Musk] or Richard [Branson]? ” The race between the billionaires has been more important than security issues. The authors of the letter remember the Challenger disaster and several of them will not fly in Blue Origins space capsule.
We have a decision-making pattern that prioritizes execution speed and cost reductions over quality and safety. In 2018, we had more than 1,000 problem reports regarding the engines that power Blue Origins rockets, which were never addressed.
Sexism
The letter also describes a sexist corporate culture that is actively supported by the responsible management at the top of the company. Many people have a clear preference for women who are even humiliated if they raise issues related to the company’s technology.
A former leader often treated women condescendingly and degradingly and called them “baby girl”, “baby doll” or “sweetheart” and asked them about their love life. It seemed to us that he was protected by his close personal relationship with Bezos – he was not fired until he physically began to touch female subordinates.
No thoughts on the climate footprint
Blue Origin publicly claims that the company works for a better world, but this is contradicted by the company’s handling of environmental and climate measures. They have no concrete plans to become CO2-neutral or to reduce the relatively large ecological footprint.
Waiver the right to complain
In 2018, Jeff Bezos took the initiative to get employees to waive the right to resolve employment disputes in the courts or comment on harassment or discriminatory behavior.
In 2019, the management of Blue Origin asked all employees to sign new contracts with a clause not to say anything that could “damage the company’s goodwill”. The contracts required employees to pay the company’s attorney’s fees if the company sued them for breach of contract. The inner circle of management kept an eye on who signed and discussed “emergency plans” for those who did not sign.
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