Lee Ann Million has been an executive assistant at Amazon since 2011 and has been working remotely for nine years.
Due to the return policy to Amazon’s office, Million said her last day was April 30.
She says she does not voluntarily leave and feels as if she was fired despite his excellent performance.
This essay is based on a conversation with Lee An Million, a 64-year-old Amazon Executive Assistant for nearly 14 years, who has lived in northern Michigan. Business Insider checked the employment history of a million. The following is edited for length and clarity.
I am an executive assistant at Amazon since 2011. In June, I would celebrate my 14th year.
My role is to make the leaders I work for where they have to be – meeting, a country, whatever it is – as quickly and efficiently as possible. I handle their calendars, manage their projects, track their goals, and disintegrate their teams. The relationship between the EA and the leader they work for is one of the most critical about how the organization works.
I worked in virtual roles for seven years before RTO started in February 2023, so my manager at that time and I didn’t think the mandate would have no influence on me.
Instead, after receiving two exceptions from remote work, April 30 will be my last day at Amazon.
I do not leave voluntarily; As for me, they fire me. I’m a good employee. The review of my presentation this year said I was significantly exceeding expectations. I gave the company 100% of myself for 14 years; To have to leave is demoralization and disturbing.
I love how you can rediscover on Amazon. I had the chance to have a bunch of different careers and put on many different teams. When I started, I trained at the Seattle Staff for five years in the Kindle Fire Launch team. For the first three months, it had the feeling that everything I did was around – it was great, electric time to be in Amazon.
In 2016, my biggest daughter became ill and had to move to Indiana to be closer to the family. Shortly after, I was able to start working practically and managed to do it.
When the three -day RTO was announced in February 2023, I found a house in Michigan and had to send a change in the request for change of address. My request was rejected immediately because of RTO and my HR Rep instructed me to fill out an exception form for remote work.
My manager, who is also a virtual employee, and I came back -back with HR, to explain that I am already a virtual employee, but we still filled the form.
I suggested that I work in the Chicago office to stay in my team because I had a family there, but I was given the opportunity to move to Seattle or Washington, Colombia County, which was not possible for me.
In November 2023, my request for change of address was approved by my organization’s Vice President – with the warning I retired in August 2024.
She felt completely outside the blue. I was like, “Who said something about retirement?” The pensioner is a very hegalist word. After a few more conversations with HR in July 2024 – a month before I left – they eventually extended my exception for remote work until April 30 this year.
I was constantly thinking that someone would change things. I even tried to find other virtual roles in Amazon. There was one role that had the feeling that it was made for me: it was completely virtual and they were looking for someone with very soft skills and strengths to build relationships that I was recognized for in the past. I had a few information chats, but then the people I talked to darkened on me.
Earlier this year I found out Oh God, I’m a few months old and no one intervenes on my behalf.
I thought maybe Amazon could at least overcome the 11-month gap until I was 65 years old next year and would allow Medicare.
In my opinion, this would be like a compensation package that allows me to slow down my social security and maintain my insurance without having to pay for COBRA. I also have 38 shares of shares that are alive in May and 37 shares that are in November.
In February, I tried to send an email to Amazon HR CEO to ask about overcoming the precipice. It is not uncommon for Amazon employees to contact the leaders directly.
I was hurt and disappointed that she never answered my email, although another HR employee turned and extended the end date until June 1st. The last day I will work will still be on April 30, giving me an extra monthly salary, two months of insurance and my 38 shares in May.
My elderly daughter is disabled, and the Amazon holds her on my insurance after the age of 26, for which I am forever grateful. Losing my insurance after two months is what scares me more than anything.
Amazon was very good at me. But I just find it cold, in the big scheme of things, so that they do not overcome the 11-month gap for someone who has been there for 14 years, make me get me on Medicare and give my daughter a little more time. I will also not receive 37 shares that would take up in November.
I will need to accept a constant reduction in your monthly payment for social security as I take it out early than the planned one. I expect my final grade from the Social Security Administration, but today it seems that it will be almost $ 600 less than if I worked to 67.
The Amazon was not so cold; Something has changed. There are so many good things for Amazon and it’s sad that it plays out.
I have always worked and supported my three daughters as a single mother and I still help them. When my income stops, then my ability to help them – especially my daughter with disabilities – also stops. While I can work practically, my plan was to continue; Retirement was really not on my radar.
I have the good fortune that I love what I do. I just want to be able to continue to do it. You can love your company, not the decisions that are made; That’s how I feel.
Sticking my head into the sand is not a plan, so I have to understand something. I think my age will absolutely play a factor-I am a 14-year-old high-performance employee and I can’t even make Amazon hire me in another role. So I’m not optimistic to find a role like this one.
More than anything I have to nourish a little. I’m healthy and I can work. If I have to go to work at the grocery store or at McDonald’s or something, that’s good. I will understand it.
A Spokesperson for Amazon Said in a Statement: “Ms. Million’s Alleged Experience Doses Represents the Experiences of the Vast Majority of Employees at the Company. And While We Done Individual’s Sitta, Because Ms. Join Her Colleagues in Working From The Office, and We Worked With Her directly to deal with her specific requests over the years-influential expansion of her virtual exception to the location in three separate cases.
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