‘Snapped’ | Amazon exec quits after coronavirus sackings

A top engineer and exec has resigned from Amazon after a five-year tenure with the firm, due to the way in which it handled its response to coronavirus.

Writing in a blog post, Tim Bray, former Vice President of Amazon Web Services, revealed that he had ‘snapped’ and felt ‘dismay’ after the e-commerce giant fired workers who called for greater protections amid the pandemic.

According to the International Business Times, Bray wrote: “I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.”

He added that Amazon’s choice to fire whistleblowers indicated that the firm operated with a toxic culture: “Firing whistleblowers isn’t just a side-effect of macroeconomic forces, nor is it intrinsic to the function of free markets. It’s evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.”