It’s been said that working at Amazon can be hellish for some people, with the company at times treating employees “like cattle” and doing unconscionable things such as putting women with breast cancer on performance-improvement plans, according to various exposes.

In one instance that became headline news, it was reported that 15 factory employees in 2011 had been taken to the hospital after collapsing due to working in stultifying heat. According to a New York Times report released almost to this day last year, workers who were sent home because of the heat received disciplinary reports. Following this, one commentator on an Amazon forum wrote, “The joke is that people go to work at Amazon and get fired, then go to Microsoft to get sane, then go to Starbucks to recover.”

The New York Times not only stated that some warehouse staff had a hard time at Amazon, but throughout the company there was a ‘no mercy’ policy, even when employees were in tears or sick. CEO Jeff Bezos fought back against these claims, stating, “I don’t think any company adopting the approach portrayed could survive, much less thrive, in today’s highly competitive tech hiring market.”

The 5,900 word Times report is a veritable stain on the reputation of one of the world’s largest tech firms. An independent report on worker satisfaction released just after the report found that Amazon ranked low in work/life balance, and was way behind other big tech companies such as Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

In the wake of all this negativity Amazon did start taking steps to evaluate corporate and warehouse worker satisfaction through feedback and analysis of that feedback. The company has now gone one step further to reclaim some of the face lost with a new pilot project for technical staff that will offer part-time work with full benefits. “We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth,” said Amazon in a press release.

Amazon went on to say that presently there are positions throughout the company in which a reduced 30-hour per week schedule is possible, including management positions. On Thursday August 25^th the company will hold a discussion around this topic entitled, “Reinventing the Work-Life Ratio for Tech Talent.” The discussion will be held from 4pm – 6pm at 426 Terry Ave N. Seattle, WA.

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