In the wake of the New York Times front-page article "Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Idea in a Bruising Workplace," one person from the book world, Julia Cheiffitz, executive editor at HarperCollins, has chimed in with a wrenching post on medium.com about her own experience.
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| Julia Cheiffitz | |
In "I Had a Baby and Cancer When I Worked at Amazon. This Is My Story," she recalled joining Amazon Publishing in 2011 as editorial director, "drawn to Amazon's spirit of innovation, its agility, and its culture of excellence." From the beginning, she was "dazzled" by her smart colleagues, although she noted a lack of women in high-level positions.
In 2013, Cheiffitz had a baby--and six weeks later was diagnosed with cancer. She had difficulties with her insurance because of "a glitch in the system," Amazon said, but then returned to work after five months:
"I was nervous and excited to return to work, and I showed up that first day back with a big smile and a phone full of baby pictures to share. I figured I'd catch up with folks and get a high-level update on how the business was doing, since the strategy had evolved from the time I was hired. Here's what happened instead: I was taken to lunch by a woman I barely knew. Over Cobb salad she calmly explained that all but one of my direct reports--the people I had hired--were now reporting to her. In the months that followed, I was placed on a dubious performance improvement plan, or PIP, a signal at Amazon that your employment is at risk. Not long after that I resigned."