A former Amazon VP has set off a conversation around workplace culture after laying out why complaints against bad managers often go nowhere. Ethan Evans said the issue isn’t that leadership is unaware, but that acting on such complaints can create more problems than it solves.
Speaking on The Peterman Pod, Evans described what typically happens when employees try to raise concerns beyond their immediate manager. “One of the hardest things for people to understand is that I’ve identified a legitimate weakness in my boss,” Evans said.
Why complaints against managers often go nowhere
According to Evans, when such complaints reach senior leaders, they don’t always lead to action. Instead, an internal judgment call begins — often without the employee even realising it.
“If you come to me with a weakness in one of my employees, there is subconsciously this process that goes on,” he said.
He explained that one of the easiest conclusions for leaders is to see the complainant as “overly sensitive and high maintenance,” shifting the focus away from the manager in question. In such cases, if the employee eventually leaves, the fallout is handled at the manager’s level, not higher up.
Evans added that confronting the manager directly about the complaint is also tricky, as it risks exposing the employee who raised the issue — something many would want to avoid.
The ‘three problems’ leaders try to avoid
The alternative, Evans said, is far more complicated for senior leadership.
“If I agree with you… now I have three problems,” the former Amazon VP said. “One, I have to decide what to do with my manager. Maybe I have to manage them out. Two, if I do manage them out, I have to hire and train somebody else. And three, while they are gone, I’ll have to do all their work myself. So you can see why even if it’s subconscious, I have a lot of reasons not to listen.”
His remarks struck a chord online, with many users saying the explanation reflected what they had experienced at work.
One user said, “No wonder these clowns are hiring all the time … Hire now only to fire late.”
Another said, “Skip the manager and tell the VP you’re out. If you had a high performance, even they will notice.”
Third said, “While this is hard to hear, he’s being truthful”
The discussion has since grown into a broader debate about accountability in large organisations and whether structural incentives often outweigh employee concerns.