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I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

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Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#21

Post by rifung »

threatofrain wrote: post #13

It's silly to blame Amazon for what we think is immoral behavior, as if we were going to shame Amazon into decency. Amazon is following the law here. It is the law which is indecent. We must think not about why Amazon is indecent, but rather how Amazon is lawful. In sum, Amazon should be mechanistically compelled into socially harmonious behavior, not shamed into it.

Well, I think shaming Amazon into decency might work if the negative publicity makes it difficult for them to hire. I'm not too sure it really worked though as it seems there's always going to be someone who is in need of a job and can't find it elsewhere.

Perhaps they will have a harder time finding talented developers though?

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#22

Post by rdlecler1 »

kbart wrote: post #2

"My name is spelt wrong on my badge, mate," I told him "Oh, that's fine, nobody cares about your name here anyway; we just need your barcode – that's all." Sounds like something written by G. Orwell.. Still better than sweatshops in China or 3rd world countries I guess.

Oddly enough, While flying back from Shanghai in 2006, the Caucasian woman next to me had a son that worked on the line in one of their sweatshops and had done it for over a year. They were from a prettywealthy family that produced things in China and the son decided he wanted to start at the very bottom. She said he insisted on sleeping in the dorms, would not take a special AC unit offered to him, ate with the rest of the workers, and even had a girlfriend. I asked how long he was going to do it for and she said she didn't know. That he seemed quite happy having such a simple and hard working life.

Also a quote to keep in mind from Chris's Rock, "If Bill Gates woke up tomorrow wit Oprah's money he'd kill himself."

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#23

Post by geodel »

outside1234 wrote: post #17
threatofrain wrote: post #13

It's silly to blame Amazon for what we think is immoral behavior, as if we were going to shame Amazon into decency. Amazon is following the law here. It is the law which is indecent. We must think not about why Amazon is indecent, but rather how Amazon is lawful. In sum, Amazon should be mechanistically compelled into socially harmonious behavior, not shamed into it.

Taking that point further, this is exactly what you would expect an efficient firm to do. They are maximizing productivity and minimizing costs within a regulatory framework. Its the regulatory framework that needs changing if we want to see broad improvements in the blue collar worker's plight. Almost any improvement will be at the expense of cheap goods, so get be prepared to pay for that improvement too. I believe…

Absolutely true. That super efficient customer service and package delivery also comes at cost of low paid workers.

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#24

Post by rdtsc »

My nephew worked for Amazon in Kentucky and during a snowstorm they refused to let him stay home. He didn't feel it was safe to drive (and it wasn't). They told him he is fired. Someone even called to apologize later, but he already found work some other place.

On the "good" part of Amazon at AWS, I had a laughably terrible hiring experience (I know I've told my story multiple times, sorry). They forgot to call me back on the scheduled phone interview day, my future manager who was supposed to interview me wasn't there the day they brought me in, they forgot about me during lunch, sat in a conference room for an hour, then went wondering around, thinking, nah, this can't be happening. After that I got a little snippy with them parroting back leadership principles. And then later it took them 3 weeks to call back (but at that point I wasn't surprised).

However, I like them as a amazon.com customer. I guess to make things awesome on the outside, those on the inside have to suffer...

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#25

Post by ra1n85 »

js8 wrote: post #8

I think it's great articles like that get posted here - it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. It's a good reminder of privilege.

>It's a good reminder of privilege.

En vogue Orwellian group think for simple minds. Implying that some have undeserved fortune is reprehensible with this complete disregard for context.

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#26

Post by vernie »

ra1n85 wrote: post #25
js8 wrote: post #8

I think it's great articles like that get posted here - it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. It's a good reminder of privilege.

>It's a good reminder of privilege. En vogue Orwellian group think for simple minds. Implying that some have undeserved fortune is reprehensible with this complete disregard for context.

Blah blah Orwellian peabrains! Look, I'm doing it, too!

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#27

Post by kdazzle »

marknutter wrote: post #20
js8 wrote: post #8

I think it's great articles like that get posted here - it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. It's a good reminder of privilege.

> it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. I absolutely would accept those employment conditions if I didn't have any other options and needed to make money to survive. I would also spend my free time learning a skill so I could get a better job at some point in the future. > It's a good reminder of privilege. It's not a matter of privilege, it's a matter of ability. In tech more than a…

Man, and here I thought social Darwinism was dead

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#28

Post by lucisferre »

rdtsc wrote: post #24

My nephew worked for Amazon in Kentucky and during a snowstorm they refused to let him stay home. He didn't feel it was safe to drive (and it wasn't). They told him he is fired. Someone even called to apologize later, but he already found work some other place. On the "good" part of Amazon at AWS, I had a laughably terrible hiring experience (I know I've told my story multiple times, sorry). They forgot to call me ba…

> I guess to make things awesome on the outside, those on the inside have to suffer...

Or, the two things don't necessarily have to be related.

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#29

Post by CaptSpify »

rdtsc wrote: post #24

My nephew worked for Amazon in Kentucky and during a snowstorm they refused to let him stay home. He didn't feel it was safe to drive (and it wasn't). They told him he is fired. Someone even called to apologize later, but he already found work some other place. On the "good" part of Amazon at AWS, I had a laughably terrible hiring experience (I know I've told my story multiple times, sorry). They forgot to call me ba…

> However, I like them as a amazon.com customer. I guess to make things awesome on the outside, those on the inside have to suffer...

I've never understood this logic. Amazon is making a ton of money (rightly so, imo), they could afford to trim down quite a bit. Why should those on the inside be forced to suffer?

Re: I worked at Amazon to see if anything's changed

#30

Post by lucisferre »

marknutter wrote: post #20
js8 wrote: post #8

I think it's great articles like that get posted here - it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. It's a good reminder of privilege.

> it's a window to employment conditions that techies would never accept. I absolutely would accept those employment conditions if I didn't have any other options and needed to make money to survive. I would also spend my free time learning a skill so I could get a better job at some point in the future. > It's a good reminder of privilege. It's not a matter of privilege, it's a matter of ability. In tech more than a…

> free time

What makes you think those people have free time after 12.5 hour days and a commute out to the middle of nowhere?

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