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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (116715)	2/1/2001 1:58:56 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 164687

Glenn, there is a sad side to Amzn. I think the workers up there in Seattle are in shock! And while those assholes on Wall Street made their millions hyping this company...it all gets back to the little guy who lost his/her job! > SEATTLE -- As hundreds of Amazon.com Inc. employees absorbed the bombshell of Tuesday's layoff announcement, they struggled to deal with the terms of their dismissal from a company that had epitomized the dot-com dream of openness and employee participation. In Seattle, where about 850 of the 1,300 laid-off Amazon workers are based, the company plans to close its customer-service center, dismiss some headquarter workers, and operate its distribution center only seasonally. While layoffs are becoming commonplace as the economy slows and produces a fresh round of high-tech downsizing, they dealt a particularly hard blow to Amazon, the giant e-tailer that offered its workers a stake in the Internet revolution by giving stock options to all. ``We were the biggest and we made the biggest fall,'' said Chris Chase, 29, a customer service representative who was among those laid off. ``In the beginning, it seemed like we were working for a company improving the American landscape. We were somehow finally beating the system after working in (lousy) jobs for years. But that was a myth.'' Amazon tried to soften the blow by setting up a ``trust fund'' containing $2.5 million in Amazon stock that will be distributed to the 1,300 laid-off workers in 2003. Although that amounts today to under $2,000 for each dismissed worker, the value of the fund when it is cashed out 2 1/2 years from now will depend on the performance of Amazon's stock. Recruiting and outplacement officials said Amazon may be the first to create such a fund for laid-off workers. According to Amazon spokesman Bill Curry, the fund is a way to allow dismissed workers to continue to share in Amazon's fortunes. ``Ownership has always been and always will be one of our guiding tenets,'' he added. J.P. Gerster, staffing manager at Los Gatos recruiting firm Rook Bishop & Knight, said the trust fund is probably Amazon's way of saying ``we're the goods guys, we care about our people.'' It also may be a way to generate good public relations. Challenger added that Amazon is probably trying to send a message to its remaining employees. ``Amazon has imbued its people with a mission and they need them to hold onto that mission even in the face of the debacle and the extraordinary amount of devastating change in the dot-com industry right now,'' Challenger said. ``They are asking people to keep the faith.'' Amazon is asking the laid-off workers to sign a separation agreement that contains 15 different clauses, including a ``non-disparagement clause'' that prohibits them from making deragatory comments about the company or its business. The employees who are being let go have until Feb. 9 to sign the 12-page agreement. Those who do not sign will receive only two weeks of severance pay, while those who do will receive ``enhanced severance packages.'' For the 200 workers in the Seattle warehouse, for instance, that enhanced severance package consists of eight weeks of pay plus $500 for transitional expenses after 60 days of regular pay and benefits. Laid-off workers will receive distributions from the trust fund whether or not they sign the separation agreement. Patricia Smith, an Amazon spokeswoman, said that the separation agreement, including the non-disparagement clause, is very standard. ``Most companies have people sign a severance agreement that will say something along these lines,'' agreed John Challenger, chief executive of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. ``It tells you just how sensitive and emotional these events are for companies.'' Laid-off employees said the package is a bittersweet deal that did nothing to brighten the mood in Seattle on Wednesday. ``I don't think I can have an interview right now without making disparaging comments,'' one laid-off worker wrote in an e-mail message. ``Essentially, the company is saying ``We're laying you off, but you can't complain about it.'' Employees said they were still stunned after being told of the layoffs in an impromptu company meeting Tuesday. The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, which has been supporting workers seeking to organize a union at Amazon, said it is advising employees not to sign the separation agreement until its lawyers can review the document. Zach Works, a customer service specialist at Amazon, who was spared the ax, said the decision to cut experienced Seattle staffers is a mistake. ``I don't see how Jeff Bezos can claim Amazon is the most customer-centric company in the world after a move like this,'' he said. ``I can't help but feel that my friends were sacrificed for Wall Street.'' Separately, Amazon dislosed an ``option exchange program'' that aims to motivate its remaining employees, many of whom have watched their stock options become worthless as the company's share price plunged in the past year. Using a complicated exchange formula, the program will allow many Amazon employees to exchange options with a strike price of more than $23 for a smaller amount of options with lower strike prices that will vest in a shorter amount of time.

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (116715)	2/1/2001 2:30:51 AM
From: Victor Lazlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164687

LOL ! Glenn your posts re AMZN just keep getting more entertaining all the time! that was great, and Happy Birthday ! (i must say though you are a cheap date - listening to an AMZN earnings conf call with your wife ... ) Hey I ordered from them a couple of times in 1998- do you think I have a claim to some stock options? Victor