Member-only story
BIG TECHNOLOGY
‘It Just Felt Wrong’: Ex-Amazon VP Tim Bray on Why He Left.
Bray talks to journalist Alex Kantrowitz about how Amazon treats workers, regulation, and more
OneZero is partnering with Big Technology, a newsletter and podcast by Alex Kantrowitz, to bring readers exclusive access to interviews with notable figures in and around the tech industry.
This week, Kantrowitz sits down with Tim Bray, an ex-VP for Amazon and distinguished engineer who quit after the company fired employees who spoke up about working conditions in its warehouses. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
To subscribe to the podcast and hear the interview for yourself, you can check it out on iTunes, Spotify, and Overcast.
In May, Amazon VP and distinguished engineer Tim Bray said he was leaving the company. Amazon had just fired employees who spoke out against its working conditions, and Bray couldn’t tolerate it. He handed in his resignation and published an astonishing blog post detailing his decision — an unprecedented move for an executive inside the tech giants. “I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison,” he wrote.
By listening to Bray, we can learn a bit more about how people inside the tech giants view their power and how they might drive change as Congress and regulators stand still.
Alex Kantrowitz: Does it feel painful, or do you feel like you did the right thing?
Tim Bray: Well, both. It was the world’s greatest job, and I really liked the people, and AWS is a treat to work for. But that was just not a thing that I could let go by.
I want to read something from your departure letter. You said that “firing whistleblowers is evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.” Could you help us understand what that toxicity is?
Well, I’m really not going to be able to explain it because I don’t understand it. I spent five and a half years at Amazon. I would say it is an exceptionally well-managed, well-run company. These days, in the days of late capitalism, there’s a lot of things to displease even mildly…
