├── README.md ├── TEMPLATE.md └── rejection-letters ├── amazon-2.md ├── amazon-3.md ├── amazon.md ├── facebook-2.md ├── facebook.md ├── palantir.md └── uber.md /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Dear [tech company] Recruiter 2 | 3 | ## What is this? 4 | This is a repo to house rejection letter templates for tech industry recruiters maintained by members of [NYC-DSA Tech Action](https://techaction.nyc), [Tech Workers Coalition NYC](https://techworkerscoalition.org/nyc/), and [Coworker.org](https://coworker.org). 5 | 6 | Feel free to use these templates to create or modify your own refusal letters to tech companies engaged in practices that don’t align with the principles of social justice, community accountability, or worker democracy. 7 | 8 | ## Why are we doing this? 9 | After Amazon launched unfair nationwide bidding war for city and state tax subsidies for their HQ2 location, Amazon announced they would be moving to New York City in November of 2018. 10 | 11 | Citing labor abuses, union busting, divestment in services & infrastructure for people living outside of homes, collaboration with ICE and police departments, and no transparent commitment to making its environmental impact more sustainable, communities in NYC fought back. 12 | 13 | Since Amazon’s operations heavily rely on the labor of tech workers, tech workers in NYC [pledged](https://www.coworker.org/petitions/no-work-for-amazon-new-york-1) that if Amazon were to create an HQ2 here, that we would not work for them - and we would let Amazon’s recruiters know why. This project was inspired by a history of tech workers [refusing](https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/tech-careers/engineers-say-no-thanks-to-silicon-valley-recruiters-citing-ethical-concerns) [to work](https://medium.com/@tessr/dear-uber-recruiter-7f5f9b304662) [for companies](https://medium.com/@taraadiseshan/dear-uber-recruiter-part-two-680c863d6fae) [engaged](https://code.likeagirl.io/dear-uber-recruiter-trying-to-hire-women-in-tech-do-you-think-this-is-normal-f570f703c55) in unethical behavior. 14 | 15 | ## How can I submit a rejection letter? 16 | To submit your own rejection letter, just open a pull request with your new [company].md rejection letter. 17 | 18 | Some guidelines: 19 | - all rejection letters go in the /rejection-letters folder 20 | - no limit on the # of rejection letters for a particular company. if you wanted to write another amazon rejection letter, just add a number to the end of the filename (amazon-2.md, amazon-3.md, etc) 21 | - markdown format, ideally 22 | - be clear, concise, and allow for re-usability by others 23 | - cite your sources, if any. the more the better! 24 | - keep it professional! 25 | 26 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /TEMPLATE.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thanks for thinking of me for this role! 4 | 5 | While I am delighted at [having been offered | being considered for] the position of [position here], I’m terribly sorry to inform you that I must decline, as I cannot in good conscience work at a company as unethical as [company name here]. 6 | 7 | The following is a list of reasons why I refuse to work for [company name here]. 8 | 9 | - [list of reasons here] 10 | 11 | Again, thank you for reaching out about this opportunity. 12 | 13 | [any additional commentary you wish to include here] 14 | 15 | Please pass this letter on to your manager. 16 | 17 | Best, 18 | [Your Name] 19 | 20 | My references for the above claims: 21 | 1. [numbered list of reputable references, the more the better] 22 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/amazon-2.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter], 2 | 3 | I appreciate you reaching out, but unfortunately Amazon isn't the kind of company I could be comfortable working for. From their [direct business dealings with ICE](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/23/amazon-met-with-ice-officials-over-facial-recognition-system-that-could-identify-immigrants/?utm_term=.726752e1ff5c), to their more indirect dealings with the human rights violating agency [via Palantir](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-letter-protest-palantir-ice-camps-2019-7), to their long and unapologetic record of [worker abuse and exploitation](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17243026/amazon-warehouse-jobs-worker-conditions-bathroom-breaks) (not to mention the documented [poor quality of life of white-collar Amazon workers](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html)), the image of Amazon in my mind is one of profit no matter what the cost to society. 4 | 5 | Knowing all of the above, and despite Amazon's parallel reputation as a innovative and exciting technology company, I could not, with a clear conscience, consider any employment with Amazon at the moment, unless Amazon's business orientation and values radically change. If you could please remove me from your recruitment database and cease any further communications, that would be greatly appreciated. 6 | 7 | Sincerely, 8 | [Your Name] 9 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/amazon-3.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], thanks for reaching out, I really appreciate your interest! I'm [very happy | satisfied] in my position at [current company] right now and I'm not looking to move. Also, I am concerned with Amazon's business ethics (for example, [providing hosting services to Palantir](https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/12/20802893/whole-foods-employees-amazon-ice-protest-palantir-facial-recognition)). I share this only in the hopes that Amazon realizes that these decisions impact their hiring pipeline. Take care and good luck. 2 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/amazon.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thanks for thinking of me for this role! 4 | 5 | While I am delighted at [having been offered | being considered for] the position of [position here], I’m sorry to inform you that I must decline, as I cannot in good conscience work at a company as unethical as Amazon. 6 | 7 | The following is a list of reasons why I refuse to work for Amazon. 8 | 9 | - They pay no federal taxes, despite being one of the most profitable companies in the US, if not the world. 10 | - They pitted cities against each other in a race to the bottom, for billions in subsidies, that Amazon doesn't need. 11 | - They develop facial recognition software used by law enforcement and ICE, and refuse to back down from these contracts despite internal and external pressure to do so. 12 | - They disregard any social obligation to their home city, by pressuring the Seattle city council to overturn a tax intended to help build affordable housing – a tax overwhelmingly approved by the public. 13 | - They have a long history of horrible working conditions, worker abuse, and even worker death at its warehouses. 14 | - Amazon has pushed a public image of being environmentally friendly, while actively backtracking from previous commitments - on top of heavily courting the oil and gas industries. 15 | 16 | Again, thank you for reaching out about this opportunity. I’m grateful to be considered, but until Amazon stops putting profit over people, I refuse to work for Amazon. 17 | 18 | Please pass this letter on to your manager. 19 | 20 | Best, 21 | [Your Name] 22 | 23 | My references for the above claims: 24 | 1. https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/does-amazon-care-about-worker-safety 25 | 2. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-hq2-could-push-800-people-into-homelessness-economist-says-2018-11-16 26 | 3. https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/18077292/amazon-rekognition-jeff-bezos-andrew-jassy-facial-recognition-ice-rights-violations 27 | 4. http://time.com/money/5386380/amazon-1-trillion-jeff-bezos-net-worth/ 28 | 5. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/leticiamiranda/amazon-hq2-finalist-cities-incentives-airport-lounge 29 | 6. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html 30 | 7. https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/life-and-death-amazon-temp/ 31 | 8. https://gizmodo.com/amazons-last-mile-1820451224 32 | 9. http://www.thestand.org/2017/04/security-officers-for-amazon-demand-fair-path-to-form-union/ 33 | 10. https://www.thenation.com/article/lessons-death-seattles-amazon-tax/ 34 | 11. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/amazon-earned-5-6b-in-2017-but-paid-no-federal-taxes 35 | 12. https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/18077292/amazon-rekognition-jeff-bezos-andrew-jassy-facial-recognition-ice-rights-violations 36 | 13. https://www.yahoo.com/news/amazon-turn-lockheed-martin-companys-move-crystal-city-says-future-192816946.html 37 | 14. https://www.businessinsider.my/how-whole-foods-uses-scorecards-to-punish-employees-2018-1/ 38 | 15. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor/4/ 39 | 16. https://gawker.com/i-do-not-know-one-person-who-is-happy-at-amazon-1572478351 40 | 17. https://medium.com/@amazonemployeesclimatejustice/public-letter-to-jeff-bezos-and-the-amazon-board-of-directors-82a8405f5e38 41 | 18. https://aws.amazon.com/oil-and-gas/ 42 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/facebook-2.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thank you for your interest, but Facebook operates in such a reprehensible way that does not match at all with my personal values. 4 | 5 | I know you are aware of the following, but here are some examples: 6 | 7 | It facilitates the spread of harmful disinformation, fanning the flames of hate and divisiveness. 8 | Its stance on protecting freedom of speech indicates that it values metrics, data and "users" over protecting and uplifting democracy. 9 | It violates user privacy, causes psychological harm, and takes advantage of and manipulates people to increase shareholder profit. 10 | It really could impact the world for good but it chooses not to do so in a time of immense global crisis. 11 | 12 | In short, Facebook is an unregulated, monopolist, greedy company for which I will never, ever consider working. 13 | 14 | I appreciate you reaching out, but you can remove me from your list for any future opportunities. Good luck in your recruiting! 15 | 16 | Sincerely, 17 | [Ethical Candidate] 18 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/facebook.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thanks for thinking of me for this role! 4 | While I am delighted at [having been offered | being considered for] the position of [position here], I’m terribly sorry to inform you that I must decline, as I cannot in good conscience work at a company as unethical as Facebook. 5 | 6 | The following is a list of reasons why I refuse to work for Facebook. 7 | 8 | - Facebook's policy of allowing political candidates to pay to promote false information. 9 | - Mark Zuckerberg's troubling comments about "going to the mat" to fight efforts to break up Facebook and big tech companies. 10 | - Facebook continually violates the privacy of users and non users. This includes the creation of so-called "Shadow Profiles", which exploit user data to build profiles on non-users and users alike. 11 | - Facebook deliberately mislead users around the amount of data the company's Android app was using, the amount of data it was collecting from user email logins, the way it was using 2FA phone numbers, and on and on and on. 12 | - Facebook allows advertisers to target users based on legally protected categories. 13 | - Though Facebook recently increased contractor's wages, it still took a multi-year external effort to convince the company to treat contracted labor remotely fairly. 14 | - Facebook aggressively moderates people of color while allowing white supremacists and other hate groups to remain on the platform. 15 | - In the US (and elsewhere) Facebook is actively working to prevent and undermine laws protecting users' biometric data. 16 | - As the COVID pandemic was rising, Facebook was willing to risk the lives of many of its lowest paid workers. 17 | 18 | ...and this is just the relatively recent set of stories. 19 | 20 | Again, thank you for reaching out about this opportunity. 21 | 22 | Please pass this letter on to your manager. 23 | 24 | Best, 25 | [Your Name] 26 | 27 | My references for the above: 28 | 1. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/political-ads-can-lie-if-they-want-facebook-confirms/ 29 | 1. https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/01/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-will-go-to-the-mat-to-fight-warrens-company-breakup-efforts/ 30 | 1. https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17225482/facebook-shadow-profiles-zuckerberg-congress-data-privacy 31 | 1. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/12/05/facebook_email_leak/ 32 | 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/08/inside-facebook-second-class-workers-who-do-hardest-job-are-waging-quiet-battle/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2f95b5946828 33 | 1. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/04/24/facebook-while-black-zucked-users-say-they-get-blocked-racism-discussion/2859593002/ 34 | 1. https://www.businessinsider.nl/facebook-uploaded-1-5-million-users-email-contacts-without-permission-2019-4/?international=true&r=US 35 | 1. https://lucyparsonslabs.com/posts/BIPA-Victory/ 36 | 1. https://gizmodo.com/it-still-takes-almost-no-effort-to-find-white-nationali-1833845520 37 | 1. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/03/19/facebook-pledges-block-ad-discrimination-targeting-older-workers-blacks/3208282002/ 38 | 1. https://medium.com/@BudBaxter/facebook-was-willing-to-risk-the-lives-of-many-of-its-lowest-paid-workers-4f9550e82e37 39 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/palantir.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thanks for thinking of me for this role! 4 | 5 | While I am delighted at [having been offered | being considered for] the position of [position here], I’m terribly sorry to inform you that I must decline, as I cannot in good conscience work at a company as unethical as Palantir. 6 | 7 | The following is a list of reasons why I refuse to work for Palantir. 8 | 9 | - Palantir is co-founded by Peter Thiel, a notorious venture capitalist known for his support of Donald Trump, his secret takedown of Gawker, and his blatantly right wing and misogynist political views. 10 | - Due to the nature of Palantir's work, everything it does is designed to further the power of the police state, not just in the United States, but worldwide. 11 | - Despite promises that their products are "only used for good", it's well documented a Palantir employee had helped Cambridge Analytica use the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users to develop psychographic profiles of voters, indirectly (or directly, depending on your POV) leading to the election of Donald Trump. 12 | - Peter Thiel is proudly anti-democratic, saying "the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women have rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ into an oxymoron." and "Most importantly, I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible." 13 | - As a company, has actively encouraged disinformation campaigns against liberals and leftists in the US. "In 2010, they proposed a plan to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to run a secret sabotage campaign against the group’s liberal opponents. Hacked emails released by the group Anonymous indicated that Palantir and two other defense contractors pitched outside lawyers for the organization on a plan to snoop on the families of progressive activists, create fake identities to infiltrate left-leaning groups, scrape social media with bots, and plant false information with liberal groups to subsequently discredit them." 14 | - Despite all this, they are supposedly pretty incompetent when it comes to the actual software, being accused more than once of simply re-branding and packaging existing off-the-shelf software to unsuspecting clients. 15 | - As recently as 2016, Palantir had enormous turnover (nearly 20%) and had to announce a 20% company wide pay raise for long term employees. This desperation and the high turnover rate is enough to signal to me that Palantir has a less than ideal work environment. 16 | 17 | Again, thank you for reaching out about this opportunity. 18 | 19 | Please pass this letter on to your manager. 20 | 21 | Best, 22 | [Your Name] 23 | 24 | My references for the above claims: 25 | 1. https://theoutline.com/post/3978/peter-thiel-knows-you-ran-that-red-light 26 | 2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12286512 27 | 3. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel/ 28 | 4. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16875266 29 | 5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/palantir-peter-thiel-cia-data-crime-police 30 | 6. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/williamalden/inside-palantir-silicon-valleys-most-secretive-company 31 | 7. https://mentalfloss.com/article/65477/what-palantir-and-why-it-worth-20-billion 32 | 8. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/21/buzzfeed-palantir-loses-relationship-with-nsa-ceo-karp-bashes-trump.html 33 | 9. https://breakermag.com/peter-thiel-still-hates-gawker-loves-trump/ 34 | 10. https://variety.com/2018/biz/festivals/peter-thiel-sxsw-drops-out-gawker-panel-1202695318/ 35 | 11. https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/2/16965716/delete-hq-founders-fund-pete-thiel 36 | 12. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-27/peter-thiel-says-trump-is-the-republican-who-isn-t-a-zombie 37 | 13. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-01/peter-thiel-praises-trump-pledges-to-support-his-2020-campaign 38 | 14. https://www.recode.net/2018/10/18/17998468/peter-thiel-club-for-growth-republican-donation 39 | 15. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/01/12/trump-isnt-the-only-menace-to-a-free-press/?utm_term=.25425a332d69 40 | 16. https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-is-reportedly-in-trouble-2016-5 41 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /rejection-letters/uber.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | Hi [Recruiter Name], 2 | 3 | Thanks for thinking of me for this role! 4 | 5 | While I am delighted at [having been offered | being considered for] the position of [position here], I’m sorry to inform you that I must decline, as I cannot in good conscience work at a company as unethical as Uber. 6 | 7 | The following is a list of reasons why I refuse to work for Uber. 8 | 9 | - They've undermined local and state taxi regulations around the globe. Not just by aggressively entering markets and refusing to follow the law, but also via concerted technological efforts to undermine inspectors and regulators. 10 | - They have a broken and hostile working environment, especially for women. 11 | - Uber refuses to recognize it's drivers, without whom the company could not exist, as employees. Depriving them of a living wage, health care, or any benefits whatsoever. 12 | - Uber has repeatedly jeopardized safety of its drivers and passengers around the globe. 13 | - Former Senior Vice President Emil Michael publicly suggested the company should attack journalists who are critical of the company, going as far as to promote exposing the private life of a journalist who was particularly critical (Sarah Lacy). 14 | - Uber is the largest of the so-called "Sharing/Gig Economy" (more accurately known as the "Servant Economy" or Serfdom 2.0) companies. These companies work to undermine labor laws in nearly every industry and country the world over. 15 | - Despite the initial promise that ride-share services would be good for the environment and the urban landscape, cities that have allowed Uber have actually seen an increase in traffic and congestion. This increase can be directly attributed to the spread of ride-sharing. 16 | - Uber engaged in strike breaking during the JFK airport taxi strike - an effort to stand in solidarity with people who were stranded after Trump's muslim ban went into effect. This anti-labor tone deafness led to hundreds of thousands of users to delete Uber. 17 | - Uber has committed flagrant corporate espionage against it's chief competitor, Lyft. 18 | - Uber spies on it's own users, and brags about it publicly, including once in a blog post about tracking user's "one night stands". 19 | - Uber Lyon ran a blatantly sexist promotion promising to match male customers with "sexy" female drivers, with the tagline "Who said women don't know how to drive?" 20 | - The entire business model of Uber is to establish a monopoly, via whatever means necessary. Despite this, the company won't be profitable until it can fully automate their system. Leaving the hundreds of thousands of drivers who built the company adrift. 21 | - Uber imposes forced arbitration on all it's customers, for all complaints, even in the case of rape. 22 | 23 | Again, thank you for reaching out about this opportunity. I’m grateful to be considered, but until Uber stops putting profit over people, I refuse to work for Uber. 24 | 25 | Please pass this letter on to your manager. 26 | 27 | Best, 28 | [Your Name] 29 | 30 | My references for the above claims: 31 | 1. https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/4/7150225/uber-is-recruiting-50000-veterans 32 | 2. https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/12/5994077/uber-cancellation-accusations 33 | 3. https://pando.com/2014/10/22/the-horrific-trickle-down-of-asshole-culture-at-a-company-like-uber/ 34 | 4. https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-honda-vezel-recall-fire-risk-singapore-2017-8 35 | 5. https://www.businessinsider.com/sources-describe-questionable-decisions-and-dysfunction-inside-ubers-self-driving-unit-before-one-of-its-cars-killed-a-pedestrian-2018-10 36 | 6. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-21/uber-concealed-cyberattack-that-exposed-57-million-people-s-data 37 | 7. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/french-uber-bird-hunting-promotion-pairs-lyon-riders-with-a 38 | 8. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/bensmith/uber-executive-suggests-digging-up-dirt-on-journalists 39 | 9. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-employment-uber-breakingviews/breakingviews-hadas-six-economic-reasons-to-hate-uber-idUSKCN1MZ246 40 | 10. https://www.whyeveryonehatesuber.com/ 41 | 11. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/ubers-pr-nightmare-a-field-guide/523269/ 42 | 12. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ubers-top-secret-hell-program-exploited-lyfts-vulnerability 43 | 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html 44 | 14. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-28/in-video-uber-ceo-argues-with-driver-over-falling-fares 45 | 15. https://www.businessinsider.com/ubers-ipo-prospectus-says-it-may-never-be-profitable-2019-4 46 | 16. https://medium.com/radical-urbanist/uber-ceo-predicts-profitability-in-three-years-dont-count-on-it-d87ef6e1bd1a 47 | 17. https://www.marketplace.org/2014/11/18/business/final-note/ubers-data-makes-creepy-point-about-company 48 | 18. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/22/uber-ftc-privacy-customer-location-contacts 49 | 19. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/19/uber-investigates-top-executive-after-journalists-privacy-was-breached 50 | 20. https://therideshareguy.com/uber-is-ripping-off-frequent-riders-and-heres-how-to-avoid-it/ 51 | 21. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/04/uber-said-to-use-sophisticated-software-to-defraud-drivers-passengers/ 52 | 22. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/03/uber-spreading-social-poison-travis-kalanick 53 | 23. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/07/ubers-underpayment-of-drivers-keeping-it-afloat-report-finds 54 | 24. https://splinternews.com/uber-is-using-gps-to-punish-drivers-in-china-who-get-to-1793848386 55 | 25. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/technology/silicon-valleys-ambivalence-toward-trump-turns-to-anger.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 56 | 26. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/31/uber-lyft-racial-discrimination-us-boston-seattle 57 | 27. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/13/uber-lyft-prices-personalized-data 58 | 28. https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/10/12127638/uber-ergo-investigation-lawsuit-fraud-travis-kalanick 59 | 29. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/28/uber-court-waymo-trade-secrets-trial 60 | 30. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/15/uber-class-action-lawsuit-sexual-assault-rape-arbitration 61 | 31. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/07/uber-work-culture-travis-kalanick-susan-fowler-controversy 62 | 32. https://pando.com/2014/11/17/the-moment-i-learned-just-how-far-uber-will-go-to-silence-journalists-and-attack-women/ 63 | 33. https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber 64 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------