I tried to make my assumptions clear. I suppose I'm saying that Amazon's massive success should give us reason to think about its HR processes in a constructive light. I feel that many posts in this thread take the view that Amazon management is stupid and/or short-sighted. That stack ranking is somehow flawed at conception and will doubtless fail. It builds a strawman out of one of the worlds biggest employers which is a bit silly.
I guess this is a political issue for many. If you view this discussion through the prism of fundamental rights, fairness and so on then its bound to cause a down-voting orgy. If ever HN was a place one could discuss alternatives with political implications, it no longer seems to be.
Amazon can afford to make mistakes because it’s cash cow has already been bred, so I wouldn’t presume that their macro success is evidence that their micro strategies are also successful. It’s more likely that the micro failures can become invisible.
But playing the devil’s advocate, one could make the case that having a quick fire culture keeps employees on their toes and maybe keeps wages suppressed. Maybe that’s worth the cost of hiring poor performers?
I guess this is a political issue for many. If you view this discussion through the prism of fundamental rights, fairness and so on then its bound to cause a down-voting orgy. If ever HN was a place one could discuss alternatives with political implications, it no longer seems to be.