亚马逊为何青睐老兵

    说起启用退伍老兵的热情，几乎没有哪家财富500强企业能比肩亚马逊公司。2011年，在这家网上零售商为其物流中心新招募的受薪雇员中，退伍军人的比例占到了25%。对老兵如饥似渴的需求使得亚马逊公司在《G.I. Jobs》杂志编撰的2012年100大拥军雇主排行榜中荣登榜首位置。一家高科技公司大举招募陆军和海军士兵似乎有违常识。但亚马逊其实既是一家技术公司，也是一家物流公司。

    亚马逊公司CEO杰夫•贝索斯表示：“我们一直在积极地网罗具备创新精神，思路开阔，勇于行动，能够为客户带来成果的管理菁英。”他援引的是该公司经常提及的管理箴言。“曾经投身军队、报效国家的男人和妇女们非常熟悉这些原则。我们发现，在亚马逊快节奏的工作环境中，这些退伍军人的领导经验堪称无价之宝。”

    在亚马逊公司，退伍军人们已经形成了一个具有一定私密性的小圈子，至少在物流中心是如此。亚马逊公司北美区招聘经理菲利普•达纳曾经在海军服役，既做过士兵，也当过军官（当初就是他说服克兰西加入了亚马逊公司）。克兰西的老板丹•费伊也是西点军校的毕业生。亚马逊公司在凤凰城建造了两个面积为100万平方英尺的仓储设施，前陆军阿拉伯语翻译乔希•滕特是其中一家的总经理。

    我们很容易理解招聘经理看中了退伍军人、特别是年轻的下级军官（除了接受过良好的教育之外，这些年轻人还亲历过枪林弹雨的洗礼）身上的哪些特质。“他们具备的领导才能完全不同于刚走出校门的大学毕业生，”37岁的滕特说。退役之后，他拒绝了一个在中央情报局（the Central Intelligence Agency）做承包商的机会，转而选择了亚马逊公司提供的这份旨在促进电子商务智能化的工作。“亚马逊明白电子商务服务商并非只有他们一家。他们拥有一个绝佳的开端。他们很聪明，但它的发展已经遇到了一个瓶颈。”

    那么，老兵们为什么如此青睐亚马逊公司呢？因为他们在这家公司身上看到了一种更高、但同时却更安全的召唤，正如他们当初入伍是的感受。滕特说：“两者的使命感是类似的。”他指的是亚马逊公司以服务为导向的文化。此外，他补充说：“每年的那个时候，我们都需要为人们带来一个丰富多彩的圣诞节。”

    译者：任文科

    Few, if any, Fortune 500 companies have embraced veterans more enthusiastically than Amazon. In 2011, 25% of new salaried employees hired by the online retailer at its fulfillment centers were ex-military. That appetite for vets landed Amazon in the No. 1 position for 2012 in the annual ranking of the top 100 military-friendly employers compiled by G.I. Jobs magazine. It's somewhat counterintuitive to think of the technology industry picking up the hiring slack for soldiers, sailors, and the like. But Amazon is really a logistics company as much as a tech company.

    "We actively seek leaders who can invent, think big, have a bias for action, and deliver results on behalf of our customers," says Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, alluding to some of the company's oft-repeated leadership precepts. "These principles look very familiar to men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and we find that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment."

    At Amazon (AMZN) the ex-military men and women have formed something of a clique, at least in the fulfillment-center operations. Philip Dana, the company's talent acquisition manager for North America, served in the Navy, both as an enlisted man and an officer. (He persuaded Clancey to join Amazon.) Clancey's boss, Dan Fay, is another West Point grad. Josh Teeter, general manager of one of Amazon's pair of 1-million-square-foot facilities in Phoenix, was an Arabic linguist in the Army before joining Amazon.

    It's easy to see what hiring managers see in veterans, particularly the young former junior officers who literally are battle-tested in addition to being well educated. "They have a standard of leadership that is different from someone right out of college," says Teeter, 37, who rejected a position as a contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency in favor of the Amazon assignment of boosting the intelligence of e-commerce. "They understand that it's not about them. They have a huge running start. They're smart. And they've already met a certain bar."

    As for what the vets see in Amazon, they profess a higher -- albeit safer -- calling, just as they did when they joined up to become warriors. "The sense of purpose is similar," says Teeter, referring to Amazon's service-oriented mentality. Plus, he adds, "once a year you get to deliver Christmas."