We turned to workplace review site Glassdoor to see what employees had written about the company before the controversy erupted. More on that below.

First a recap of the last few days: Times reporters David Streitfeld and Jodi Kantor wrote in a 7,000-word feature that they had interviewed 100 current and former Amazon employees, most of whom described an intense, often cutthroat workplace where senior managers encourage their reports to attack one another's ideas in meetings. An internal phone directory includes instructions on how to send secret notes about colleagues. Workers suffering from cancer, miscarriages or other personal issues are penalized or pushed out, as are any employees who don't meet the company's high standards. Many Amazon employees resort to weeping at their desks, said the story. Though the piece also described what the article said was "the thrilling power to create," most readers walked away with a sense that Amazon is much too hard on its workers.