Of course I’ll get a real exit interview, right? I do not. I get a link to a form, with instructions to submit it within two days of my departure. I know I could pitch a fit, demand an in-person meeting. But I also know I won’t. I spend my last two hours filling out the form. I write hundreds of words about the thrill and the damage, about never feeling bored and also never feeling safe. I write about being the only woman in so many rooms, and about all the ways Amazon made me smarter and all the ways it damaged me. I express gratitude for being allowed to reinvent myself at will, to make wild
Of course I’ll get a real exit interview, right? I do not. I get a link to a form, with instructions to submit it within two days of my departure. I know I could pitch a fit, demand an in-person meeting. But I also know I won’t. I spend my last two hours filling out the form. I write hundreds of words about the thrill and the damage, about never feeling bored and also never feeling safe. I write about being the only woman in so many rooms, and about all the ways Amazon made me smarter and all the ways it damaged me. I express gratitude for being allowed to reinvent myself at will, to make wild career moves that wouldn’t fly in the straight world. I say I expect to know and love some of the people I’ve met here for the rest of my life. I say I’m leaving with no more understanding of how to get promoted than I had the day I arrived. I say that Amazon set the stage for my addiction, but that sobriety has been manageable here, too. The final question is yes/no: “Would you recommend Amazon as an employer to others?” I stare at the choices for several minutes before clicking no. At ten to five, I figure I’ve said enough and hit the Submit button. The page hangs. The hourglass spins and spins. Amazon is being Amazon to the end, I think, but maybe I’ve already started to shed my Amazonness, because despite all the docs and notes I’ve lost to the intranet void, I didn’t think to save my exit interview on my hard drive. Finally, in panic-induced thoughtlessness, I hit the Back butto...
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I've experienced this many times: spending a lot of effort writing feedback or typing a long response to a form, only for it to time out and disappear.
Additionally, there are those end-of-employment links that stop working once you lose access to your previous workplace's intranet. It seems like these systems aren't thoroughly tested, and few people bother to inform their former employers about these flaws. Even if they did, it's unlikely much would be done to ensure the links function outside the intranet.
