{"id":612152,"date":"2023-02-26T08:49:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T14:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/26\/amazon-denies-claims-hiring-freeze-is-slowing-aws-sustainability-work\/"},"modified":"2023-02-26T08:49:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T14:49:07","slug":"amazon-denies-claims-hiring-freeze-is-slowing-aws-sustainability-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/26\/amazon-denies-claims-hiring-freeze-is-slowing-aws-sustainability-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon denies claims hiring freeze is slowing AWS sustainability work"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/green-datacentre-sustainable-cloud-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" data-credit=\"jijomathai - stock.adobe.com\"  width=\"520\" height=\"173\" alt><\/p>\n<p>jijomathai &#8211; stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"content-header\">\n<h2>Amazon\u2019s cloud arm has seen several high-profile departures leave its sustainability teams, but the company denies its hiring freeze is stalling efforts to help AWS customers bring their carbon emissions down<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content-center\">\n<ul>\n<li><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i data-icon=\"2\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"contributors-block\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Caroline-Donnelly-CW-contributor-2022-140x180px.JPG\" alt=\"Caroline Donnelly\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/contributor\/Caroline-Donnelly\">Caroline Donnelly,<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Senior Editor, UK<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tPublished: <span>24 Feb 2023 15:15<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"content-body\">\n<p>Amazon has dismissed claims that a \u201cfew departures\u201d from its cloud arm\u2019s sustainability team, coupled with its ongoing hiring freeze, is slowing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252527827\/AWS-commits-to-becoming-the-cleanest-cloud-to-run-enterprise-workloads\">company\u2019s progress towards helping its customers curb their carbon emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sources close to the company alerted Computer Weekly to the fact that several individuals, of varying degrees of seniority but all with sustainability as part of their job roles, had departed Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the past nine months.<\/p>\n<p>The most-recent and high-profile is Christopher Wellise, who served as AWS\u2019s director of worldwide sustainability and carbon for just over two years before departing in January 2023. He is now the vice-president of global sustainability at colocation giant Equinix.<\/p>\n<p>His departure occurred one month after AWS\u2019s sustainability-focused analyst relations manager, Derek DeShane, left the company one year after being appointed to that position in December 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Six months prior to this, in June 2022, Adrian Cockcroft, the vice-president of sustainability architecture, whose remit included helping AWS customers make their business operations more sustainable, also left the business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey haven\u2019t replaced key staff and only seem to be recruiting front-end sustainability \u2018sales\u2019 heads, who are there to drive revenue rather than drive improvements,\u201d said one source, who spoke to Computer Weekly on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n<p>Computer Weekly contacted Amazon to seek clarification on whether the roles left vacant by the aforementioned individuals had been filled, but the company neglected to directly answer the question.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aboutamazon.com\/news\/workplace\/a-note-about-hiring-from-beth-galetti\">Amazon went public with an employee letter that confirmed the company had<\/a> implemented a \u201cpause on new incremental hires\u201d across its workforce that is set to last for the \u201cnext few months\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The letter attributed the move to the \u201cunusual macro-economic environment\u201d, and said the company will replace employees who move on to \u201cnew opportunities\u201d and that there will remain some \u201ctargeted places\u201d where hiring will continue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not the first time we\u2019ve faced uncertain and challenging economies in the past,\u201d the letter, authored by Beth Galetti, senior vice-president of people experience and technology at Amazon, stated. \u201cWhile we have had several years where we\u2019ve expanded our headcount broadly, there have also been several years where we\u2019ve tightened our belt and were more streamlined in how many people we added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith fewer people to hire at this moment, this should give each team an opportunity to further prioritise what matters most to customers and the business, and to be more productive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several months after the letter was made public, <a href=\"https:\/\/adrianco.medium.com\/sustainability-at-aws-re-invent-2022-all-the-talks-and-videos-i-could-find-d0a19a0a1b86\">in February 2023<\/a>, Cockcroft published a blog post on Medium featuring a round-up of all of the sustainability-focused presentations made during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252527827\/AWS-commits-to-becoming-the-cleanest-cloud-to-run-enterprise-workloads\">AWS Re:Invent customer and partner conference<\/a>, which took place over several days in Las Vegas from late November 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe keynotes didn\u2019t feature anything new on carbon, just reiterated the [company\u2019s] existing path to 100% green energy by 2025,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAWS did have some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252527729\/AWS-pledges-to-become-a-water-positive-entity-by-2030\">new goals around sustainable water use<\/a> that are quite aggressive and welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<section data-menu-title=\"Impact on sustainability teams\">\n<h3><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i>Impact on sustainability teams<\/h3>\n<p>The post also alluded to some conversations he had with contacts from AWS, who suggested the hiring freeze had impacted on the productivity of the firm\u2019s sustainability teams, particularly those tasked with updating the <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/blogs\/aws\/new-customer-carbon-footprint-tool\/\">AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Introduced in March 2022, the tool is freely available to AWS customers and designed to help them calculate the size of their cloud infrastructure\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no news or updates to the AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/adrianco.medium.com\/sustainability-at-aws-re-invent-2022-all-the-talks-and-videos-i-could-find-d0a19a0a1b86\">wrote Cockcroft in the blog<\/a>. \u201cI asked around and heard that they are still working on it, but the AWS hiring freeze means that they don\u2019t have the headcount they expected and are making slow progress on an API, more detailed metrics and Scope 3 [emissions measurements], which everyone is waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Computer Weekly put Cockcroft\u2019s claims to AWS, and also asked the firm for a response to the suggestion the hiring freeze was affecting the productivity of its sustainability teams, and received the following statement in response:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny suggestion that a few departures from the company impact our commitment to sustainability is false,\u201d a company spokesperson said. \u201cAmazon\u2019s hiring strategy, inclusive of AWS, has no impact on our goal to build a sustainable business for our customers and reach net-zero carbon by 2040.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To emphasise this point, the company reiterated that Amazon reached 85% on its goal to power its entire operations on 100% renewable energy by 2025 several years ago in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we\u2019re making progress on our recently announced commitment to make AWS water-positive by 2030,\u201d the spokesperson added. \u201cThese are just two examples of how we\u2019re continuing to invest in fighting climate change and decarbonising our operations to help solve this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"DigDeeperSplash\">\n<h4>\n\t\t\t<i data-icon=\"m\"><\/i>Read more on Datacentre energy efficiency and green IT<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/searchsoftwarequality\/feature\/Sustainable-software-needs-more-tools-corporate-buy-in\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/map_globe_g1124675531_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/map_globe_g1124675531_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/map_globe_g1124675531.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Sustainable software needs more tools, corporate buy-in<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/glen_stephanie.jpg\" alt=\"StephanieGlen\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Stephanie\u00a0Glen<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/252517918\/AWS-embarks-on-green-power-focused-deals-with-AES-and-Fluence-Energy\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero Images\/eco-green-energy-electricity-wind-solar-fotolia_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/eco-green-energy-electricity-wind-solar-fotolia_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/Hero%20Images\/eco-green-energy-electricity-wind-solar-fotolia.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>AWS embarks on green power-focused deals with AES and Fluence Energy<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Caroline-Donnelly-CW-contributor-2022-140x180px.JPG\" alt=\"CarolineDonnelly\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Caroline\u00a0Donnelly<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/feature\/Will-AWS-pledge-to-extend-life-of-servers-inspire-other-cloud-firms-to-follow-suit\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/time-clocks-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/time-clocks-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/visuals\/German\/article\/time-clocks-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Will AWS pledge to extend life of servers inspire other cloud firms to follow suit?<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineImages\/fearn_nicholas.jpg\" alt=\"NicholasFearn\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Nicholas\u00a0Fearn<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/searchstorage\/tip\/What-to-look-for-in-a-green-cloud-storage-provider\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/maze_g532458912_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/maze_g532458912_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineimages\/maze_g532458912.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>What to look for in a green cloud storage provider<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/onlineImages\/kirvan_paul.jpg\" alt=\"PaulKirvan\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Paul\u00a0Kirvan<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/365531874\/Amazon-denies-claims-hiring-freeze-is-slowing-AWS-sustainability-work\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Elroy Pecora<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>jijomathai &#8211; stock.adobe.com Amazon\u2019s cloud arm has seen several high-profile departures leave its sustainability teams, but the company denies its hiring freeze is stalling efforts to help AWS customers bring their carbon emissions down By Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK Published: 24 Feb 2023 15:15 Amazon has dismissed claims that a \u201cfew departures\u201d from its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":612153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,994,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-612152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amazon","category-denies","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}