I can believe either of these explanations. This employee also seems to be an outlier in terms of amount of shit they have to deal with. I worked at an FC for a month and a half while waiting to start a graduate job, and all of our shifts were 8 hours plus, with hilarious lack of clarity on start time, finish time and break times. Also, if this guy is able to actually enjoy being on splitting (the yellow sticker job he alludes to) then he's the only person I've ever met who can.
> the mainstream media in America don't want to hear from an Amazonian unless he's unhappy
Its not news if nothing happens; not surprising only the bad experiences get reported.
One thing that's rarely discussed - its a warehouse job and physically demanding. Someone, who left a cosy office job sitting down most of the time with a bi-hourly coffee quest, will need time to adjust to a more intense workload. Its not something everyone can do, nor want to.
I can't be extremely skeptical of the story, the way it is written, almost like reading a US version of Pravada.
BUT, as in the case of Scott Alexander from SlateStarCodex, people/personalities are just discardable pieces of stepping stones for media and journalists to seek attention and play politics. Maybe newsweek is wrong, but doesn't mean the other media portraying Amazon workers are right either.
<rant> Having worked in warehouses back in the day, I (and probably anyone) can tell you that it is not a glamorous job, most of the time you are working in a tough environment and often treated like crap, and if you are gonna work warehouses it’s not even close to what Amazon provides. They should always improve, but they deserve a lot of credit.
Most warehouse operations are not well organized, with little continuous investment. It can be back-breaking work (sometimes literally), you are not provided the safety equipment you need, there is definitely no AC, a lot of employee turnover, and a lot of sketchy employees and managers - all for cheapest possible pay. This is the default almost everywhere; there are exceptions of great operations, but they are just that - exceptions.
I would venture to say that the vast majority of warehouse operations in the country (and the world) do not provide even a fraction of the benefits of Amazon. Does the job still suck? Probably. Should they keep improving? Definitely. But they pay a decent wage (warehouse jobs are often minimum wage) and it’s a well run operation that actually cares about the workers (whether it’s for corporate interests or whatever reason).
How many warehouse jobs pay $15+? How often do you think an average warehouse worker got tested for Covid at their job? In fact, how often was their paycheck late or not correct or delivered (because that happens everywhere)?
Working warehouses isn’t great, but before blaming Amazon for inventing warehouse jobs, we should compare apples to apples. My 2c. </rant>
Ps - Not affiliated with anything Amazon related (but people probably won’t believe that ).
12 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 41.2 ms ] threadHN discussion on the quilette piece: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20486348
However, it may be noteworthy that so few employees seem to be speaking up for the company as this one does.
Its not news if nothing happens; not surprising only the bad experiences get reported.
One thing that's rarely discussed - its a warehouse job and physically demanding. Someone, who left a cosy office job sitting down most of the time with a bi-hourly coffee quest, will need time to adjust to a more intense workload. Its not something everyone can do, nor want to.
BUT, as in the case of Scott Alexander from SlateStarCodex, people/personalities are just discardable pieces of stepping stones for media and journalists to seek attention and play politics. Maybe newsweek is wrong, but doesn't mean the other media portraying Amazon workers are right either.
Most warehouse operations are not well organized, with little continuous investment. It can be back-breaking work (sometimes literally), you are not provided the safety equipment you need, there is definitely no AC, a lot of employee turnover, and a lot of sketchy employees and managers - all for cheapest possible pay. This is the default almost everywhere; there are exceptions of great operations, but they are just that - exceptions.
I would venture to say that the vast majority of warehouse operations in the country (and the world) do not provide even a fraction of the benefits of Amazon. Does the job still suck? Probably. Should they keep improving? Definitely. But they pay a decent wage (warehouse jobs are often minimum wage) and it’s a well run operation that actually cares about the workers (whether it’s for corporate interests or whatever reason).
How many warehouse jobs pay $15+? How often do you think an average warehouse worker got tested for Covid at their job? In fact, how often was their paycheck late or not correct or delivered (because that happens everywhere)?
Working warehouses isn’t great, but before blaming Amazon for inventing warehouse jobs, we should compare apples to apples. My 2c. </rant>
Ps - Not affiliated with anything Amazon related (but people probably won’t believe that ).