Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Jeff Bezos and his company, Amazon, have come under heavy scrutiny over the years for many reasons, one of them being the mistreatment of employees at the company. Now, similar claims have popped up at another Jeff Bezos company. Employees at Blue Origin, Bezos’ aerospace company, have published an open letter in which they expose unfavorable working conditions.
The essay was published on Lioness and was written by Alexandra Abrams, Former Head of Blue Origin Employee Communications. It was also co-written by 20 other employees of the space exploration company. “When Jeff Bezos flew to space this July, we did not share his elation. Instead, many of us watched with an overwhelming sense of unease. Some of us couldn’t bear to watch at all,” the letter reads in its opening paragraph.
The essay calls out Blue Origin for a multitude of reasons. One of which is the fact that its 3,600-person roster is primarily white males, which contradicts the company’s ambitions of working towards a future for all. The issues don’t stop at race, as the letter also calls out sexually discriminatory behavior as well. “Numerous senior leaders have been known to be consistently inappropriate with women.” Despite a number of employees filing reports, one particular individual remained at the company and even got a promotion to the hiring committee in 2019.
It’s also alleged that one NASA worker and Blue Origin senior leader said to a group of female employees, “you should ask my opinion because I am a man.” There are several anecdotes of sexism at Blue Origin included in the letter.
The essay goes on to highlight other major issues faced by employees at Blue Origin. This includes a lack of environmental concerns, despite public comments from founder Jeff Bezos. It’s also said that employees are pushed to their limits and suffer from burnout. During company town halls, organizers were reportedly instructed to make it difficult for workers to ask questions about Blue Origin’s inner workings.
Neither Blue Origin nor Jeff Bezos have publicly commented on the new accusations from employees. For any potential updates, be sure to visit the Blue Origin topic page here on Shacknews.