If we want better conditions for Amazon staff we need to be patient…

The tech giant has often been accused of mistreating workers, but our desire for instant gratification is part of the problem

Tim Bray resigned as an Amazon vice-president last week. Who he?" I hear you say. And why is this news significant? Answers: first, Bray is an ubergeek who's an alumnus of many of the outfits in tech's hall of fame (including DEC, Sun Microsystems, the OED project at the University of Waterloo, Google's Android team and, eventually, Amazon Web Services); and second, he resigned on an issue of principle - something as rare as hen's teeth in the tech industry.

In his blog, he wrote: I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19." It was an expensive decision. Bray said the decision to resign would probably cost him more than a million dollars in salary and shares, and that he regretted leaving a job he enjoyed, working with good colleagues. So I'm pretty blue."