Amazon’s headquarters will be virtually empty on March 10, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon has advised all employees in its Seattle office to work from home, and much of downtown is nearly empty.
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Amazon said on Wednesday it would investigate employee performance appraisal, a process faced with racial bias, as part of its 2021 goals for diversity, equity and inclusion.
In a memorandum sent to employees and posted on the company’s website, Amazon’s HR boss Beth Galetti said the company would look for ‘statistically significant demographic differences’ in performance ratings in the first quarter of this year. to identify problems. take action where necessary. Amazon will also conduct a similar evaluation of its depletion figures and a ‘low performance action’ to identify gaps.
In this line, Galetti said Amazon hopes to keep employees at statistically the same prices in all demographics as part of its goals for this year.
The decision comes as Amazon increasingly faces scrutiny of its rental and promotional practices. Recode reported in February that Black Amazon employees are promoted less frequently and that they endure tougher evaluations than their non-black counterparts, citing interviews and internal data.
In addition, a senior manager of Amazon Web Services sued in March for discriminating against black and female employees at its corporate offices. Charlotte Newman also claims that Amazon paid her less than similar white collaborators. Newman said she endures racial and sexual harassment by her co-workers and supervisors, including that she ‘looks like a gorilla’ according to the complaint.
An Amazon spokesman said the company had investigated the claims and fired Newman’s harasser. Amazon has also issued supplementary training requirements for those in Newman’s reporting line, the spokesman said.
“We do not tolerate any discrimination or harassment of any kind,” the spokesman said. “We are currently investigating the new allegations included in the lawsuit.”
Galetti said Amazon will strive to further diversify its leadership this year. The company aims to double the number of black employees in leadership roles and hire 30% more black people and female employees in the “L4-L7” functions, ranging from entry-level to senior management positions in the US
“It’s going to take time and consistent focus to get where we want to be,” Galetti said, adding that CEO Jeff Bezos, an S-Team, made up a group of more than a dozen senior executives. all parts of Amazon’s business, have met bi-weekly since June last year to ‘examine our progress in achieving these goals’.
According to Galetti, Amazon has achieved several diversity goals set in 2020, including doubling the representation of black directors and vice presidents at the company.
Last year, women made up 22.8% of Amazon’s senior leadership in the U.S., while black employees represented only 3.8% of its U.S. senior leadership, according to Amazon’s latest staff members.