The stats are in, and classic TV shows like &#8220;Seinfeld,&#8221; &#8220;Friends,&#8221; and &#8220;Suits,&#8221; crushed the new, more expensive shows in 2023 that were driven by Hollywood’s desire to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rather than storytelling.
Audiences love a good story. Thus, success in movies and television has always been the result of great storytellers writing great stories — regardless of whether the writers were male or female, white or black or any other minority. But according to <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/hollywoods-new-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Free Press</a>, those times appear to be changing.
<div id="attachment_704435" style="width: 386px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-704435" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-704435" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138360746-376x576.jpg" alt="SEINFELD -- &quot;The Frogger&quot; Episode 18 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld (Photo by Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)" width="376" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138360746-376x576.jpg 376w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138360746-196x300.jpg 196w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138360746.jpg 668w" sizes="(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px" />Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images</div>
<h3>Streaming Platforms</h3>
Streaming companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Disney+ have been shelling out millions of dollars to create shows that will please the DEI gods, but those are losing out to old shows, also known as acquired shows, <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/why-old-tv-shows-are-beating-hollywoods-billion-dollar-dei-machine/?fbclid=IwAR3ZJCvGZkDZm429rlKqlZmuv-JTr8HkPjOdmVfrqzd1dNVjNsVYuIZsKYY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Front Page magazine</a> noted.
According to <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/streaming-unwrapped-streaming-viewership-goes-to-the-library-in-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nielsen&#8217;s</a> Streaming Viewership from 2023, which tracks what people listen to and watch, more than 57 billion minutes were spent last year watching “Suits,” a legal drama that premiered in 2011. That was more than any other show last year.
<div id="attachment_704439" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-704439" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-704439" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-1088051728-864x576.jpg" alt="SUITS -- &quot;Whale Hunt&quot; Episode 812 -- Pictured: Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter -- (Photo by: Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-1088051728-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-1088051728-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-1088051728-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-1088051728.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images</div>
In fact, of the top 10 streamed shows of 2023, more than a handful are all shows that were made more than a decade ago.
Shows like “Gilmore Girls,” and “Friends,” which have been off the air for years, were watched in 2023 billions of minutes more than the new ones like “Ted Lasso” or “Ginny and Georgia.”
<div id="attachment_704433" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-704433" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-704433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-140631535-855x576.jpg" alt="FRIENDS -- &quot;The One With The Rumor&quot;-- Episode 9 -- Aired 11/22/2001 -- Pictured: (l-r) Brad Pitt as Will Colbert, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller-Bing, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller -- Photo by : Danny Feld/NBCU Photo Bank" width="855" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-140631535-855x576.jpg 855w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-140631535-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-140631535-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-140631535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" />Danny Feld/NBCU Photo Bank</div>
Netflix spent $168 million on shows like “Bridgerton” for the first three seasons and lost to shows like “Suits” which it paid a reported estimate of $200,000 per episode, <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/09/streaming-residuals-explained-suits-netflix-1235552804/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deadline</a> noted.
In addition, Disney spent $25 million an episode for its woke “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” in 2023 but ended up losing in the ratings war to shows like “Suits” with a budget of $3 million, Front Page magazine noted.
<h3>TV Shows By The Minutes</h3>
In an article titled, “How Comfort Shows Conquered Streaming TV,” the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/top-streaming-shows-most-watched-1235816555/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood Reporter</a> noted that the top 10 overall titles in Nielsen’s year-end rankings for 2023 are all acquired shows.” It’s also reported that it’s “the first time that’s happened in the four years streaming rankings have been publicly available.”
Acquired shows had a massive showing in 2023, with the top 10 accounting for 339.5 billion minutes of viewing, that’s up almost 41% from 2022 when 241.4 billion minutes were viewed, THR noted.
“We definitely had a lesser number of originals [in 2023],” Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen’s senior vp product strategy and thought leadership, told the outlet. “As a result, the introduction of huge new blockbuster originals that we’re used to, that really wasn’t the case this year.”
Speaking of originals, looks like the &#8216;show about nothing&#8217; still has what it takes. According to <a href="https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/seinfeld-nbc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parrot Analytics</a>, &#8220;&#8221;Seinfeld&#8221; has 32.9 times the audience demand of the average TV show in the United States … This exceptional level of demand puts &#8220;Seinfeld&#8221; in the top 0.2% of all TV shows.”
<div id="attachment_704407" style="width: 933px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-704407" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-704407" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138359792-923x576.jpg" alt="SEINFELD -- &quot;The Frogger&quot; Episode 18 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jason Alexander as George Costanza,áJerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld (Photo by Joey Delvalle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)" width="923" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138359792-923x576.jpg 923w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138359792-300x187.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138359792-768x479.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GettyImages-138359792.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" />Joey Delvalle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images</div>
<h3>How We Got There</h3>
Following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, which destroyed towns and divided the country, the pressure was on to make changes in our society. Those included the characters we saw on the small screen and those working behind the scenes, the outlet noted.
In response, there’s been a huge drive for &#8220;inclusivity&#8221; in Hollywood, regardless of whether those hired are the best to get the job done, something that seems to be happening in every aspect of our society.
And the problem isn&#8217;t just woke issues woven into a story for the sake of DEI. Hollywood has always been eager to tackle those kinds of things. Take the example of the 1967 classic movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” with Sidney Poitier and Katherine Hepburn, which tackled interracial marriage or on the small screen with shows like “All in the Family” (1971-1979) which dealt with race issues head-on.
The DEI push, on the other hand, seeks to influence every aspect of show business, but audiences are making it clear, they are only interested in great stories, regardless of how old.
<h3>Writers&#8217; Room</h3>
In an effort to be seen as “inclusive,&#8221; legendary networks made massive changes to who was telling the stories and writing the shows. At CBS, the company <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-07-13/cbs-racial-diversity-effort-writers-development-bipoc#:~:text=CBS%20wants%20at%20least%2040,producers%2C%20the%20network%20announced%20Monday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mandated</a> that writers’ rooms have at least 40% minority representation for the 2021-2022 broadcast season with 25% of its script development budget to fund projects from creators, writers and producers who meet their diversity qualifications, the Free Press noted.
ABC Entertainment issued a detailed series of “inclusion standards,” the outlet noted. <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/abc-unveils-ambitious-set-of-inclusion-standards-exclusive-4069409/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a> also committed to making sure 50% of its showrunners, writers, producers, crew, performers check a BIPOC representation box by the 2022-23 season, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/abc-unveils-ambitious-set-of-inclusion-standards-exclusive-4069409/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">THR</a> noted.
“I’m all for LGBT and Native Americans, blacks, females, whatever minorities that have not been served correctly in the making of content, whether it’s television or movies or whatever, but I think it’s gone too far,” Howard Koch, who has been involved in the production of more than 60 movies and is the former president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts &amp; Sciences, said, the Free Press noted.
“I know a lot of very talented people that can’t get work because they’re not black, Native American, female or LGBTQ,” he added.
The Writers Guild of America West <a href="https://www.wga.org/uploadedfiles/the-guild/inclusion-and-equity/Inclusion-Report-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inclusion and Equity Report</a> of 2022, found that in 2011 64% of staff writers had been men, but by 2020, only a third were. It also found in 2011 71% of staff writers were white, but by 2020 less than half were.
Diving into the report further, the number of “white producers by 2020 fell by 24%, the number of male producers by 25%&#8230;white executive story editors fell by 26% and male executive editors by 27%,” according to the report.
A <a href="https://x.com/Scientific_Bird/status/1759700304725971342?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chart</a> in the report showed that, ”between 2011 and 2020, staff writers moved from 35% to 63% women, and 72% to 44% white.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Large demographic shift in American TV series staff.
According to Writers Guild of America West data, between 2011 and 2020, staff writers moved from 35% to 63% women, and 72% to 44% white. <a href="https://t.co/FU2HuB00CW">pic.twitter.com/FU2HuB00CW</a>
&mdash; Inquisitive Bird (@Scientific_Bird) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scientific_Bird/status/1759700304725971342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h3>Acting Roles</h3>
Findings in the <a href="https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2022-Television-10-27-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UCLA</a> Hollywood Diversity 2022 Television report were similar with the “White share” of top broadcast scripted roles, top cable scripted roles and in the digital scripted arena decline in 2020-21 compared to those same areas in 2019-20.
While “Black (18.6%) and multiracial (14%) persons were actually overrepresented” across the board,” the report noted.
The report showed women made huge gains during the same time frame, with “women’s share of top digital scripted roles increased and actually surpassed that of their male counterparts.” In the report, women now accounted for 50.3% of these roles in 2020-21, compared to only 49% for males.
In 2020, the Emmy awards <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/06/18/emmy-nominations-rule-change-aims-more-diversity-and-inclusion/3213111001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> changes to its nomination process which it said were intended to &#8220;align the nominations selection process across all awards categories and to allow for more inclusiveness in the recognition of excellence,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/06/18/emmy-nominations-rule-change-aims-more-diversity-and-inclusion/3213111001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> noted.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-hollywoods-new-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-executives-are-shaping-whats-on-your-screens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted previously</a>, this DEI push in Hollywood means network, executives, and studios no longer care about making sure to pick the scripts, actors and directors and best people for a show. It’s now all about representation.
All the changes, however, have not translated into success for entertainment companies. So, the question remains: will Hollywood change course now that audiences have spoken?

Seinfeld

‘It’s Not You, It’s Me’: Why Old Shows Like ‘Seinfeld’ Are Crushing New, Expensive Shows

Amazon

Celebrities

Disney

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Entertainment

Friends

Hollywood

Jerry Seinfeld

Netflix

Readers Pass

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) posted a thread on X Monday he titled &#8220;The Amazon Files,” revealing emails he said show the tech company caved to pressure from the Biden administration &#8220;to censor books.&#8221;
The emails sent from the Biden administration to Amazon and internal messages from the company showed that on the same day that Amazon met with the White House in March 2021, the company “enabl[ed] Do Not Promote” for books that expressed hesitancy about the COVID vaccines, Jordan said.
According to emails the White House sent to Amazon nearly three years ago, then-senior White House advisor Andy Slavitt — who at the same time was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-biden-admin-praised-youtubes-censorship-used-it-to-pressure-facebook-to-intensify-suppression-of-vaccine-stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressuring Facebook</a> to suppress vaccine-related stories — asked who he could talk to at “the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation” at Amazon. Slavitt added in his email that a search for “vaccines” under books on Amazon yielded “concerning” results.
“How did the Biden White House conclude that there was ‘propaganda and misinformation’ in books sold in Amazon’s bookstore? The White House ran keyword searches for controversial topics, such as ‘vaccine,’ and emailed Amazon when it didn’t like how the search results appeared,” Jordan <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1754637211469766809" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
THE AMAZON FILES – “feeling pressure from the White House”
Internal docs subpoenaed by <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JudiciaryGOP</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/Weaponization?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Weaponization</a> indicate that <a href="https://twitter.com/amazon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@amazon</a> bowed down to Biden White House pressure to censor BOOKS.
🧵 Thread:
&mdash; Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1754637204146581783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In response to the Biden administration’s request, Amazon appeared to discuss taking action but held off on “doing a manual intervention” because the company’s PR team was afraid such a move would be “too visible” and would be picked up by news outlets, such as Fox News.
“Why was the Biden White House so upset with Amazon?” Jordan <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1754637215223746874" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a>. “Because Amazon believed ‘retailers are different than social media communities’ &amp; provided their ‘customers with access to a variety of viewpoints.’ For the Biden Admin, letting Americans think for themselves was unacceptable.”
Jordan wrote that on March 9, 2021, a week after the initial email, the White House met with Amazon. Internal documents <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1754637216876208628" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that one of Amazon’s main questions for the administration was, “Is the Admin asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search results/order (both)?” In the internal documents revealed by Jordan, Amazon also admitted that it was “feeling pressure from the White House” as the company also anticipated a “negative story” published by <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/amazon-covid-conspiracy-books" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BuzzFeed</a> on books sold on Amazon “related to vaccine misinformation.”
On the same day as its meeting with the White House, Amazon said in internal discussions that it enabled its “Do Not Promote” for books that questioned the efficacy of the COVID vaccines, and the tech giant “also considered other ways ‘to reduce the visibility’ of certain books that the Biden White House disliked,” Jordan said.
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“That’s right. Amazon caved to the pressure from the Biden White House to censor speech,” the judiciary committee chairman added.
Jordan concluded the thread by saying that the Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are investigating the Biden administration’s effort to pressure Amazon to enforce more censorship.
The congressman’s findings add yet another company to the list of tech giants pressured by the Biden administration to censor vaccine-related information. Last summer, Jordan began releasing what he called the “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-releases-new-facebook-files-highlights-how-biden-admin-sought-to-suppress-daily-wire-content" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook Files</a>,” saying the Biden administration pressured Facebook to stifle speech the White House didn’t like, including limiting The Daily Wire’s reach on the platform. Then in December, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-biden-admin-praised-youtubes-censorship-used-it-to-pressure-facebook-to-intensify-suppression-of-vaccine-stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that YouTube went along with the White House’s censorship requests before Facebook was pressured to follow suit, according to documents shared with Jordan.

Joe Biden

‘Amazon Caved’: Jim Jordan Posts Evidence WH Pressured Amazon ‘To Censor Books,’ Amazon Complied

Biden Administration

Books

Business

Censorship

COVID-19 Vaccine

Jim Jordan

Technology

White House

Amazon is looking for office space in Miami as company founder Jeff Bezos plans to move to Florida after spending 29 years in Seattle. 
The tech giant’s search for 50,000 square feet of office space in Miami began before Bezos announced his plans to move to an opulent village near the city, an Amazon spokesperson said, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-27/amazon-is-eyeing-more-miami-office-space-as-bezos-moves-south#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>. The Amazon founder — who is now the company&#8217;s executive chairman — said earlier this month that he was moving to Florida, and he recently purchased a $79 million mansion in Indian Creek’s “Billionaire Bunker,” while also paying $68 million for the neighboring property. 
An Amazon spokesperson told <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/28/amazon-jeff-bezos-miami-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios</a> that the company is seeking office space in Florida due to its growth in the Miami area over the past few years. More than 400 Amazon corporate and tech employees work in the existing serviced office locations the company has in Miami, but the company’s hunt for 50,000 square feet of office space would make it the first base location in the city, Axios reported.
Amazon’s search for more office space in Florida comes as other major corporations expand in the Miami area. In 2021, Microsoft <a href="https://therealdeal.com/miami/2021/09/08/microsoft-to-lease-50k-sf-office-at-under-construction-brickell-tower/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leased</a> a 50,000-square-foot office in the city for its new regional headquarters. Nearly a year later, hedge fund Citadel fled Chicago for Miami with its CEO Ken Griffin citing rising crime rates in Chicago for his decision. 
Griffin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billionaire-moved-to-florida-because-of-crime-in-chicago-now-hes-giving-100-million-to-elect-conservatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Citadel’s move after two of his employees were attacked and robbed in Chicago. The CEO said one employee had “a gun to his head” during a coffee run, and another was attacked by “some random lunatic just trying to punch him in the head” while he was waiting for a car.
Earlier this year, private equity firm Thomas Bravo moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Miami after announcing the plan in 2021, <a href="https://www.thomabravo.com/press-releases/thoma-bravo-selects-830-brickell-for-its-new-miami-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointing</a> to Miami’s “fast-growing technology and business hubs.” 
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An analysis from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-economy-us-houston-dallas-nashville-miami-cities-moving-businesses-2023-11#miami-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Insider</a> earlier this month said cities in red states are poised to become “economic powerhouses,” challenging cities such as New York and San Francisco. Business Insider wrote that Miami, Houston, Dallas, and Nashville are experiencing a surge in businesses flocking to them while the coastal cities are seeing businesses and residents leaving. 
Miami’s population has also <a href="https://www.thenextmiami.com/miami-population-grew-1-7-last-year-fourth-fastest-among-big-cities/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> at the fourth-fastest rate among the 50 largest U.S. cities between 2021 and 2022, growing by 1.7% over that time period.

Amazon Looking To Expand In Florida As Bezos Flees Seattle For Sunshine State

Florida

Jeff Bezos

Miami

Seattle

U.S.

Partially redacted portions of the Federal Trade Commission&#8217;s (FTC) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ftc-launches-antitrust-suit-against-amazon-over-illegal-monopoly-officials-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">antitrust lawsuit</a> against Amazon allege the company used an internal algorithmic pricing tool described as an &#8220;unfair method of competition&#8221; to test how much it could raise prices so competitors would follow.
FTC officials and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon last week for allegedly using &#8220;interlocking and anticompetitive and unfair&#8221; strategies to maintain its monopolistic power over current and future rivals.
The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1910129AmazoneCommerceComplaintPublic.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">172-page lawsuit</a> details a number of examples accusing the American multinational company of raising consumer prices across retail, including a system called &#8220;Project Nessie,&#8221; which Amazon allegedly stopped using in 2019 for unknown reasons.
Sources familiar with the complaint <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/amazon-used-secret-project-nessie-algorithm-to-raise-prices-6c593706?mod=hp_lead_pos2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Wall Street Journal that the algorithm allegedly &#8220;helped Amazon improve its profit on items across shopping categories, and because of the power the company has in e-commerce, led competitors to raise their prices and charge customers more,&#8221; as the outlet reported.
The Journal reported that the algorithm would return the item to its standard price point if competitors didn&#8217;t match Amazon&#8217;s prices.
&#8220;In a competitive world, Amazon&#8217;s decision to raise prices and degrade services would create an opening for rivals and potential rivals to attract business, gain momentum, and grow,&#8221; the lawsuit reads. &#8220;But Amazon has engaged in an unlawful monopolistic strategy to close off that possibility.&#8221;
According to the lawsuit, the FTC estimated a redacted amount had been &#8220;extracted from American households&#8221; by the system, but one source told the Journal that Amazon made over $1 billion in revenue using Project Nessie.
FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar declined to comment on the redacted portions in the complaint but called on Amazon to remove the blocked information.
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&#8220;We once again call on Amazon to move swiftly to remove the redactions and allow the American public to see the full scope of what we allege are their illegal monopolistic practices,&#8221; Farrar told the Journal.
Tim Doyle, a spokesperson for Amazon, told The Daily Wire in an emailed statement that the FTC’s allegations &#8220;grossly mischaracterize&#8221; Project Nessie.
&#8220;Project Nessie was a project with a simple purpose—to try to stop our price matching from resulting in unusual outcomes where prices became so low that they were unsustainable,&#8221; Doyle said. &#8220;The project ran for a few years on a subset of products, but didn’t work as intended, so we scrapped it several years ago.”
Federal officials announced the major federal lawsuit — led by FTC Chair Lina Khan — after the agency voted 3-0 to move forward with the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
&#8220;The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,&#8221; Khan said in a news release.
Khan, a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden, reportedly garnered attention as a law student at Yale University when she published an influential antitrust and competition law essay targeting Amazon&#8217;s business practices. But rumors of the FTC going after the online retail giant have been circulating since the Trump administration.
David Zapolsky, senior vice president of Amazon&#8217;s global public policy and general counsel, responded to the complaint last week, saying the federal agency &#8220;is wrong on the facts and the law&#8221; and has &#8220;radically departed&#8221; from its original purpose to enforce federal consumer protection laws and antitrust laws.
&#8220;The FTC has it backwards and if they were successful in this lawsuit, the result would be anticompetitive and anti-consumer because we&#8217;d have to stop many of the things we do to offer and highlight low prices—a perverse result that would be directly opposed to the goals of antitrust law,&#8221; Zapolsky <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ftc-antitrust-lawsuit-full-response" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

FTC Sues Amazon in Landmark Antitrust Case Over Marketplace

FTC Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon Alleges Company Used Internal Algorithm To Raise Prices

FTC Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon Alleges Company Used Secret Algorithm To Raise Prices

Amazon Prime

Antitrust

Federal Government

Lawsuit

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon on Tuesday for allegedly using &#8220;interlocking and anticompetitive and unfair&#8221; strategies to maintain its monopolistic power over current and future rivals.
&#8220;Amazon&#8217;s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon,&#8221; the agency and its state partners said in a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/09/ftc-sues-amazon-illegally-maintaining-monopoly-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>.
The complaint alleges that Amazon&#8217;s &#8220;far-reaching schemes&#8221; impact hundreds of billion dollars in retail sales yearly for businesses by stifling competition on price, product selection, and quality while simultaneously preventing rival companies from gaining shoppers and sellers on a massive scale. According to the agency, Amazon&#8217;s &#8220;anticompetitive&#8221; conduct occurs in two markets — the online superstore market that serves shoppers and the market for online marketplace services purchased by sellers.
John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s bureau of competition, said the case could potentially &#8220;do so much good for so many people.”
Federal officials announced the major federal lawsuit — led by FTC Chair Lina Khan — after the agency voted 3-0 to move forward with the charges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Khan, a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/09/26/ftc-amazon-monopoly-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> garnered attention as a law student at Yale University when she published an influential antitrust and competition law essay targeting Amazon&#8217;s business practices. But rumors of the FTC going after the online retail giant have been circulating since the Trump administration.
&#8220;The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them,&#8221; Khan said in a news release.
If successful, the American multinational technology company faces restructuring fundamental business operations that would &#8220;pry loose its monopolistic control to restore competition,&#8221; according to the FTC.
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David Zapolsky, senior vice president of Amazon&#8217;s global public policy and general counsel, <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-response-to-ftc-antitrust-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the suit on Tuesday, saying the federal agency &#8220;is wrong on the facts and the law&#8221; and has &#8220;radically departed&#8221; from its original purpose to enforce federal consumer protection laws and antitrust laws.
&#8220;The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon&#8217;s store,&#8221; Zapolsky said. &#8220;If the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers, and reduced options for small businesses—the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do.&#8221;

Amazon Sued By Five Women Alleging Discrimination

FTC Launches Antitrust Suit Against Amazon Over Illegal Monopoly, Officials Say

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon for allegedly &#8220;tricking and trapping&#8221; customers into signing up for Amazon Prime and making it hard to cancel subscriptions.
The FTC filed a federal <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/amazon-rosca-public-redacted-complaint-to_be_filed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complaint</a> Wednesday alleging that Amazon &#8220;knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.&#8221;
The behemoth e-commerce company used &#8220;manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs&#8221; to trick consumers into signing up for automatically renewing Prime subscriptions, and then made the cancellation process unnecessarily long and complicated, the consumer protection agency alleged in its complaint.
&#8220;Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,&#8221; FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, accuses Amazon of violating both the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers&#8217; Confidence Act.
Amazon responded with a flat denial of wrongdoing, saying customers &#8220;love&#8221; their Prime subscriptions.
&#8220;The FTC’s claims are false on the facts and the law,&#8221; Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/06/21/ftc-lawsuit-amazon-prime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;The truth is that customers love Prime, and by design we make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership.&#8221;
&#8220;As with all our products and services, we continually listen to customer feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience, and we look forward to the facts becoming clear as this case plays out,&#8221; Doyle said.
In one colorful detail, the FTC said Amazon named the Prime cancellation process the &#8220;Iliad,&#8221; referring to &#8220;Homer’s epic about the long, arduous Trojan War.&#8221;
&#8220;Amazon designed the Iliad cancellation process (&#8216;Iliad Flow&#8217;) to be labyrinthine,&#8221; the FTC&#8217;s complaint said.
Meanwhile, Amazon&#8217;s leadership slowed or rejected user experience changes that would have simplified the cancellation process for Prime customers because the changes would have affected Amazon&#8217;s bottom line, the complaint claims.
Prime was launched in 2005 and now has more than 200 million members worldwide. During the pandemic, Prime subscriptions <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/amazon-prime-has-200-million-members-142910961.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKSoMSrcCJNwDxBqlbdAd4K8O3iTn_dBMLSx0zKw_9o8hHXnhnV5IcSPRUCmNQEyWdDeJSSNmRTFgkVuGRa4sKV8vsWy5hMnSjhjkNzoat0D5L1vj_oR9YDC9SZYbpMT9nTz2l6lJWtoPT4dg_TSBQjsZWUwo7vW-il3HoGPw6Ii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jumped</a> by 50 million in about a year.
A Prime subscription offers Amazon customers perks, including one or two-day delivery, free delivery and returns, the Prime Video streaming service, and certain e-books, video games, and grocery shopping services. Prime subscriptions cost $139 a year or $14.99 a month.
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Amazon <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-prime-subscriptions-consent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that it made $9.6 billion from Prime subscriptions in just the first three months of this year, a 17% increase over that period last year.
The complaint also accuses Amazon of repeatedly trying to delay the FTC&#8217;s investigation by &#8220;bad faith&#8221; responses to requests for documents.
The FTC&#8217;s investigation into Amazon Prime began in March 2021.
This is not the first time the FTC has targeted Amazon.
Last month, Amazon <a href="https://abc7ny.com/federal-trade-commision-sues-amazon-prime-ftc-dark-patterns/13410559/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settled</a> with the FTC for $25 million after allegations it saved recordings of children&#8217;s voices and their location data through its voice assistant Alexa. Also in May, Amazon agreed to pay another $5.8 million in customer refunds after the FTC accused the company of privacy violations involving its Ring doorbell cameras.
The scrutiny comes as Amazon works to expand into new markets, including <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/amazon/2023/amazon-fulfillment-service-woos-grocery-sellers-away-walmart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">groceries</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/17/how-amazons-continued-expansion-into-healthcare-could-buoy-the-sector/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health care</a>.

App Illustrations

FTC Sues Amazon For ‘Tricking And Trapping’ People Into Prime

FTC Sues Amazon For 'Tricking And Trapping' People Into Prime

Biden Admin

Courts

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/trial-begins-three-men-accused-pressuring-expats-return-china-rcna87266" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Conspiracy Trial Starts</a>
One American and two Chinese nationals faced a jury Wednesday in the first trial stemming from U.S. claims of a Chinese government conspiracy. Officials say that China’s government has tried to harass and intimidate dissidents and others abroad into returning home. The three men are charged with conspiracy to hound a former Chinese city official, his wife, and their adult daughter to get him to go back to his homeland, where the government alleges he took bribes.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/latvian-parliament-elects-first-openly-gay-president-baltic-nation-rcna87077" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World&#8217;s First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia</a>
The world’s first openly gay president has been elected in Latvia by the country’s parliament. He received 52 votes — or just one more than necessary to win — in a close contest. Gay marriage is currently illegal in Latvia.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/31/ftc-sues-amazon-over-ring-doorbell-privacy-violations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit</a>
Amazon has settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that its voice assistant Alexa and doorbell camera Ring violated privacy protections. The FTC claimed in one lawsuit that the tech company kept recordings of children&#8217;s conversations in Alexa. The federal agency also alleged that Amazon employees illegally monitored customers without consent via Ring. Now, Amazon will pay over $30 million to settle the accusations.
<a href="https://cbsaustin.com/newsletter-daily/gov-abbott-appoints-former-tx-secretary-of-state-as-interim-attorney-general-ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-for-civil-litigation-impeachment-tx-house-lege-senate-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Abbott Appoints Paxton Replacement</a>
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has now appointed a temporary replacement for impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton — and Democrats aren’t happy about it. Abbott named former Secretary of State John Scott as the interim Attorney General this week, as Paxton awaits his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. Some Democrats have pushed back on the appointment of Scott because he worked with former President Trump during his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania.
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<a href="https://people.com/ill-man-who-joked-he-regretted-marrying-wife-convicted-of-murdering-her-7506988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Family Feud Contestant Who Joked About Regretting Marrying His Wife Convicted Of Murdering Wife</a>
A former “Family Feud” contestant who joked on the show about regretting marrying his wife has now been convicted of murdering his wife. 40-year-old Timothy Bliefnick appeared on the show in 2020.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;Family Feud&#039; contestant who joked about regretting marriage now on trial for wife&#039;s murder" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K_lChiRhSRk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Bliefnick has now been found guilty of killing his estranged wife, Becky Bliefnick, in February. The court found that he broke into her home in Quincy, Illinois, with a crowbar and shot her 14 times. The pair was in the process of a divorce and Becky had previously text her sister, “If something ever happens to me, make sure the number one person of interest is Tim.” His sentencing is scheduled for August 11.
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Friday

Friday Afternoon Update: World’s First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia, Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit

Friday Afternoon Update: World's First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia, Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit

China

Europe

Gay Rights

General

Greg Abbott

Morning Wire

Podcast

Texas

&#8220;Reacher&#8221; and &#8220;The Hunger Games: Catching Fire&#8221; star Alan Ritchson talked about being a Christian in Hollywood and said it&#8217;s important that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/faith">faith</a>-based films are supported, calling movie theaters a new &#8220;pulpit.&#8221;
The 40-year-old actor has been involved in the entertainment industry for the last 19 years and said he definitely wants to be &#8220;part of stories&#8221; that honor Christ, <a href="https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/reacher-actor-alan-ritchson-wants-the-name-of-christ-in-movie-theaters.html">Christian Headlines</a> reported.
Ritchson admitted that some studio executives are only focused on the bottom line but said that doesn&#8217;t make it any less important that faith-based films like his upcoming film &#8220;Ordinary Angels&#8221; and the surprise hit movie &#8220;Jesus Revolution&#8221; get in theaters.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#39;Reacher&#39;, &#39;Hunger Games&#39; Actor Alan Ritchson Stands for Movies That Honor &#39;the Name of Christ&#39; <a href="https://t.co/hdvX9NGiQf">https://t.co/hdvX9NGiQf</a> <a href="https://t.co/1wmhffOP5H">pic.twitter.com/1wmhffOP5H</a>
&mdash; CBN News (@CBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBNNews/status/1648361425696440327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He said it &#8220;doesn&#8217;t change the fact that people are hearing the name of Christ in movie theaters.&#8221;
&#8220;And if that&#8217;s where the pulpit is for people who wouldn&#8217;t normally step foot in a church, then that&#8217;s still a great way to have that conversation,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It matters that these films get supported.&#8221;
The &#8220;Reacher&#8221; star said when Christians support faith-based movies it sends an important message to Hollywood.
&#8220;Other people in [Hollywood] watch this and a groundswell kind of takes place in Hollywood that changes things in a real meaningful way,&#8221; Ritchson told the outlet.
Speaking about his upcoming faith-based movie &#8220;Ordinary Angels,&#8221; Ritchson <a href="https://jesusrevolution.movie/prayer-team">recently</a> said his movie is a story about how God uses &#8220;broken&#8221; people and those who don&#8217;t look like the &#8220;perfect Christian&#8221; to do His work, the outlet noted.
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&#8220;God continually shows up in our world in a way that kind of boggles our mind,&#8221; Ritchson said. &#8220;Because we, for whatever reason, I think we continue to buy into the idea that &#8230; God chooses heroes to do His work. And it&#8217;s just never been the case.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s the broken and the dysfunctional that God proves His power and strength through,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And this a story of that, too. It&#8217;s important that we remember that those who maybe struggle to follow the rules, who don&#8217;t look like the perfect Christians, who are the broken, are the people that God has a funny way of expressing Himself through. And that story is very much told in Ordinary Angels.”
&#8220;Ordinary Angels&#8221; is set to hit theaters Oct. 13.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-chosen-star-jonathan-roumie-hilariously-reacts-to-jesus-revolution-landing-in-top-3-at-box-office">&#8216;The Chosen&#8217; Star Jonathan Roumie Hilariously Reacts To &#8216;Jesus Revolution&#8217; Landing In Top 3 At Box Office</a>

Alan Ritchson-1

‘Reacher’ Star Talks Importance Of Faith-Based Films, Calls Theaters A New ‘Pulpit’

‘Reacher’ Star Talks Importance Of Faith-Based Films, Calls Theaters A New Pulpit

Faith

Movies

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> announced the forthcoming availability of multiple <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence?_gl=1*2dsaed*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MTM5NjUzOC45My4xLjE2ODEzOTc1NTUuNDguMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> products, throttling the company into competition with other major <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">technology</a> firms which recently unveiled similar solutions for consumers.
The move comes after ChatGPT, an AI language processing tool, earned worldwide recognition as knowledge workers leverage its capabilities to execute tasks such as writing emails and computer code in a matter of seconds. Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of data and machine learning at Amazon Web Services, <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/machine-learning/announcing-new-tools-for-building-with-generative-ai-on-aws/?trk=ace7c69a-33d1-4ab3-9cd3-c22ce23d47a7&amp;sc_channel=el" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> on Thursday that the e-commerce behemoth would introduce Bedrock, which offers access to several AI models for text and images, as well as Titan, which includes two large language models that can complete tasks such as writing blog posts, extracting information from documents, and creating applications for personalization and search.
Bedrock customers will be able to access multilingual large language models that can generate text in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch.
The firm will also make CodeWhisperer, an AI computer coding companion unveiled last year that can generate code suggestions in real-time, generally available and free for individual developers. Amazon conducted a productivity challenge with CodeWhisperer which found that participants who used the AI system completed tasks 57% faster and were 27% more likely to achieve success than those who did not use CodeWhisperer.
The announcement comes on the same day that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy remarked in a shareholder <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-2022-letter-to-shareholders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> that large language models and generative AI are receiving considerable investments from the firm. “Machine learning has been a technology with high promise for several decades, but it’s only been the last five to ten years that it’s started to be used more pervasively by companies,” he wrote. “This shift was driven by several factors, including access to higher volumes of compute capacity at lower prices than was ever available.”
Technology companies otherwise battered by economic tumult have seen mass market AI as a possible windfall in recent months. Microsoft, which invested billions of dollars into ChatGPT creator OpenAI, recently announced that the system would be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/microsoft-unveils-new-version-of-bing-powered-by-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">integrated</a> into search engine Bing and internet browser Edge, allowing users to locate information more easily. Google <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-search-will-soon-receive-ai-upgrade-as-company-scrambles-to-release-chatgpt-competitor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> one day earlier that Bard, an experimental conversational AI service, would soon be added to the company’s search engine, which has dominated competitors for two decades.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other senior executives at the social media company now spend most of their time on AI initiatives. Meta expects to commercialize elements of its generative AI capabilities by the end of this year for advertisers on Facebook and Instagram.
The breakneck rollout of mass-market AI prompted some technology leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, to endorse an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-wozniak-other-tech-leaders-call-for-six-month-pause-on-ai-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open letter</a> calling for a six-month moratorium on AI development as lawmakers consider the impact of AI on employment and information channels. The executives and academics who signed the letter referenced possible widespread unemployment that mass market AI solutions could render across the world.
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Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius and three other senior analysts indeed noted in a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colossal-share-of-american-jobs-could-be-replaced-by-ai-new-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that generative AI systems could have “potentially large macroeconomic effects” and produce “significant disruption” in worldwide labor markets. The estimated 7% of positions that AI could impact in the United States are broadly in sectors that rely upon office work, such as administrative support and legal, while jobs in sectors such as building and grounds maintenance, construction, logistics, and healthcare support will remain broadly intact.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Jumps Into Commercial AI Race With Multiple Competitors To ChatGPT

Amazon Jumps Into Commercial AI Race

Artificial Intelligence

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> announced on Monday that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> would dismiss some 9,000 employees amid efforts to become more efficient.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/update-from-ceo-andy-jassy-on-amazons-operating-plan-and-additional-role-eliminations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to employees that most of the layoffs would occur in business units such as Amazon Web Services and Twitch, as well as human resources and advertising divisions. The headcount reductions at the e-commerce and technology behemoth come after approximately 18,000 employees were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> at the beginning of the year.
“For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount. This made sense given what was happening in our businesses and the economy as a whole,” Jassy told staff members. “However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount.”
Jassy added that some employees were moved from one initiative to another and that new openings were created even as other positions were entirely eliminated. “The overriding tenet of our annual planning this year,” he continued, “was to be leaner while doing so in a way that enables us to still invest robustly in the key long-term customer experiences that we believe can meaningfully improve customers’ lives and Amazon as a whole.”
Shares of Amazon fell more than 2% on Monday morning against modest gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Index and the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite. The company’s stock price has fallen 40% over the past year alongside declines seen by other technology firms.
The headcount reduction comes shortly after social media company Meta dismissed 10,000 employees and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-lays-off-thousands-more-employees-as-zuckerberg-urges-return-to-physical-offices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ceased</a> efforts to fill 5,000 available positions after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heads-roll-at-meta-as-zuckerberg-announces-massive-layoffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decreasing</a> its headcount by more than 11,000 workers earlier this year. The layoffs in Silicon Valley come after entreaties from investors who have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-lays-off-thousands-more-employees-as-zuckerberg-urges-return-to-physical-offices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that inflated payrolls and diminished demand are preeminent factors behind lackluster profits.
Most prominent companies in the sector have reduced headcount as the elevated consumer demand which followed the lockdown-induced recession began to slow. More than 106,000 workers have been dismissed from technology firms so far in 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies nixed about 140,000 positions last year.
Companies have also started to end the virtual work policies established amid the lockdown-induced recession. Jassy wrote in another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/large-companies-roll-back-remote-work-make-employees-show-up-to-the-office-at-least-part-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> that employees must appear in physical office spaces at least thrice per week and that the firm believes “teams tend to find ways to work through hard and complex trade-offs faster” when they are in the same location. Thousands of employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a> by starting an internal messaging channel intended to challenge the end of fully remote work; four in five members threatened in one informal survey to search for new positions elsewhere because of the policy change.
“It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues,” Jassy continued. “When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated.”

Amazon To Dismiss Thousands More Workers As Big Tech Layoffs Continue

Amazon To Dismiss Thousands More Workers

Big Tech

Jobs

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> employees are furious as the company rolls back <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> arrangements, with some threatening to quit and others drafting petitions in reaction to a recent announcement that they must report to the office at least three times per week.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/large-companies-roll-back-remote-work-make-employees-show-up-to-the-office-at-least-part-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to employees on Friday that the company believes “teams tend to find ways to work through hard and complex trade-offs faster” when they are in the same physical location. Shortly after the announcement, hundreds of Amazon staffers started joining an internal Slack channel called Remote Advocacy; there were more than 14,000 members of the channel as of Tuesday, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-plan-to-fight-against-return-to-office-policy-2023-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Business Insider.
Nearly 80% of workers in the channel claimed they would start to look for another job because of the new policy. &#8220;This is going to be absolute chaos and make everyone&#8217;s work distracted for probably a quarter, maybe longer,&#8221; one disgruntled employee wrote. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to be productive with so much uncertainty injected into our lives.&#8221;
The shift toward more traditional work arrangements, however, comes as Amazon seeks to downsize amid macroeconomic tumult and a decline in consumer demand that followed the lockdown-induced recession. Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months and implemented a freeze on incremental hires in the corporate workforce.
Employees in the Slack channel nevertheless drafted petitions against the return to office policy. &#8220;We, the undersigned Amazonians, are responding by petitioning for the right to choose where to work, including remote locations,&#8221; an early version of the document said, according to Business Insider. The petition included survey data which found 56% of Amazon employees desire “monthly sync-ups in the office,” while 31% want to work in the office one or two days per week.
Employees tend to prefer remote work arrangements because of time savings from avoided commutes, as well as flexibility to balance work and personal matters, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup. The costs for employers, however, can outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent sometimes produced through virtual work policies: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Jassy and other executives said the lockdowns affirmed the importance of creating meaningful relationships between team members. “It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues,” he wrote to employees. “When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated.”
Other companies, such as Walmart and Disney, have likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivoted</a> away from their virtual work arrangements in recent weeks. Employees of the former company must work at least twice per week from physical offices, while employees at the latter must work from offices four days per week, preferably between Monday and Thursday.
Many firms have included carveouts that allow top performers to continue working from home. Walmart will permit some employees to remain full-time remote staff members even as they force others to relocate while technology hubs across the nation are shuttered; Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a leading skeptic of virtual work arrangements, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he would consider allowing “particularly exceptional contributors” at the automaker to work remotely.

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office At Least Three Days Per Week

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office

Economy

Remote Work

Several large companies are reversing the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> policies they enacted during the lockdown-induced recession and are requiring employees to appear in physical office spaces for at least part of the week.
Many firms in the sector have been dismissing large portions of their headcounts as post-lockdown demand surges begin to mitigate. <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/walmart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walmart</a> told their employees to appear in the office at least three days and two days per week, respectively.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a Friday <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/andy-jassy-update-on-amazon-return-to-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to employees that the company believes “teams tend to find ways to work through hard and complex trade-offs faster” when they are in the same physical location.
“It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues,” he continued. “When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated.”
Beyond requiring their technology employees to work from offices at least twice each week, Walmart will close three technology hubs in Texas, California, and Oregon. Employees will be compensated for their relocation expenses to cities with primary technology hubs if they decide to remain with the company and will be offered severance if they leave the firm, according to a Monday <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/walmart-to-close-three-tech-hubs-tells-tech-staff-to-return-to-offices-3fb131e4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> from Walmart CTO Suresh Kumar seen by the Wall Street Journal.
Employees generally prefer remote or hybrid work arrangements due to time savings from avoided commutes, as well as the flexibility to more easily balance work and personal matters, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup. The costs for employers, however, can outweigh the benefits from attracting and retaining talent: 85% of managers say the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Disney CEO Bob Iger likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last month that he would require employees to work from offices, preferably between Monday and Thursday. “As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney,” the executive remarked. “And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together.”
Many companies, on the other hand, have allowed top performers to continue working from home. Walmart will permit some employees to remain full-time remote staff members; Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a leading skeptic of virtual work arrangements, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he would consider allowing “particularly exceptional contributors” at the automaker to work remotely.
The trend toward consolidating office spaces and requiring employees to return to offices occurs as several technology companies face pressure from investors over declining profitability, resulting in the decision to introduce mass layoffs. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-white-house-brushed-off-concerns-about-mass-firings-at-microsoft-and-amazon-now-google-is-laying-off-employees-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> their intentions to decrease payrolls by more than 40,000 workers over the past several weeks. More than 77,000 workers have been dismissed from prominent technology firms thus far in 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies in the sector dismissed some 140,000 positions last year.

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Large Companies Roll Back Remote Work, Make Employees Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Companies Make Workers Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Walmart

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