[tonyedgecombe]

On the other hand when I see an office like the one in the article I think what a bunch of cheapskates, working there must be miserable. That seems to be born out by Amazon's reputation as a somewhat difficult employer.

Years ago I did a number of short contracts for distribution companies. Without exception they were terrible places to work. They operate on wafer thin margins so have to watch costs like a hawk. The trouble is they don't know when to turn that off so they inevitably turn into abusive employers.

[JohnFen]

There is a whole spectrum between those two extremes. It's not necessary to accept one extreme just because the other extreme exists.

That said, the most pleasant places I've worked have been in nondescript, no-frills (but not crappy) office spaces and the least pleasant places I've worked have been in luxurious office spaces.