Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446 • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#61

Post by frgtpsswrdlame » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

vorpalhex wrote: post #51

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we please end this charade of pretending a $14 wage is kingly anywhere? I mean even the whole idea of 'banjo-playing areas'? Come on. I find it really gross the way people that have good jobs and have never left urban/suburban environments typecast the rest of the country.

That's about $30k a year. That's comfortable in areas within an hour or two of my town. I made that amount when I was in college, in the DC area, and most certainly survived just fine. Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are And the banjo-playing is mostly a joke, especially in Texas. That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, re…

>when I was in college

Show me one person in this country with two kids who makes $14/hr and doesn't feel like they're struggling. College is easy, I survived on >Had I lived more rural in an area where entry level homes are It would've gone a bit further but certainly not 'much.'

>That being said, as an avid hiker, I spend a significant chunk of my time in places best labeled as "Nowhere, really".

Somehow I think even you realize that using 'I hike' as a proxy for 'I have familiarity with rural areas' is pretty lame.

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#62

Post by ommunist » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

If I have a chicken and you don’t, on average we have half chicken each.

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#63

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:03 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #57

colek42 wrote: post #39

There is this false assumption that people are paid what they are worth. People are paid what the market will bear. $28k is about 13/hour. For places like East TN this is not a horrible wage, and you can live on it. As a comparison, an entry-level position in the military, E1, makes less even when you account for allowances.

The definition of what something is worth is what the market will bear.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#64

Post by elicash » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:03 PM UTC

colek42 wrote: post #39

There is this false assumption that people are paid what they are worth. People are paid what the market will bear. $28k is about 13/hour. For places like East TN this is not a horrible wage, and you can live on it. As a comparison, an entry-level position in the military, E1, makes less even when you account for allowances.

The first part of your comment relates to an ideological view I disagree with, but at least is a fair argument to make in advocating we go about our lives and not concern ourselves with issues of low pay -- that the market is self-correcting and best to leave it alone. And I'd argue we structure our society in the way that we think achieves the outcomes we want. A normal debate to have.

But it does bother me when workers are pitted against one another, like you pitting underpaid warehouse workers against the military. We see this a lot. Fast food workers should try to negotiate for higher pay because teachers make X. Etc etc. If you think military pay is too low, then argue for higher military pay.

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#65

Post by nylonstrung » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #22

Before people comment too much about wage inequality consider for a moment that this ins't a feudal state where people are locked into role and wage limits outside their control. I am a software developer for one of the larger companies and also an Army Reservist. When I go away to do Army stuff I frequently encounter people who work much harder and earn much less than I do in their civilian jobs. Is that fair? I wou…

I'm going to guess that the majority of people working in Amazon warehouses are well into adulthood, probably have kids, don't have above a high school education, and likely lack general computer literacy in the first place.

How should they move into software engineering?

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#66

Post by danShumway » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:04 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #57

colek42 wrote: post #39

There is this false assumption that people are paid what they are worth. People are paid what the market will bear. $28k is about 13/hour. For places like East TN this is not a horrible wage, and you can live on it. As a comparison, an entry-level position in the military, E1, makes less even when you account for allowances.

The definition of what something is worth is what the market will bear.

That sounds like a tautology to me.

Most people do not define worth based on monetary cost; you are using a very narrow economic definition. If you can't get past that word, then please substitute "value", or "usefulness", or some other equivalent above.

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#67

Post by falcolas » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:06 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #41

vorpalhex wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A minimum wage of $7/hr in the Bay Area or NYC is useless. That won't cover transportation. $14/hr is still, basically, the same amount of more or less useless. In, to quote Ken White, "pluck-my-banjo" Texas, that's a perfectly fine and livable sum. A dollar or two raise and you can probably start saving up for a house realistically. $14/hr is kingly. Amazon warehouses are usually not in banjo-playing rural areas, bu…

Can we please end this charade of pretending a $14 wage is kingly anywhere? I mean even the whole idea of 'banjo-playing areas'? Come on. I find it really gross the way people that have good jobs and have never left urban/suburban environments typecast the rest of the country.

As someone currently living in a "banjo playing area" (Bozeman, Montana), yeah, $14 will barely cover a studio apartment in town. You could afford an apartment in the next town over, but it would be a good 40% of your income, and now you either own a winter-capable car or walk 5-6 miles for the bus. The next city out to the west, well, you can't get a house for less than $400,000 (basically a retirement settlement). Go east you're going to be stuck on the wrong side of the pass about 1/4 of the winter.

You've got to get somewhere around 30-40 miles out of the city to buy a house on $14 an hour (assuming the 20% of income rule of thumb).

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#68

Post by pg_bot » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:08 PM UTC

The headline falls into what I would characterize as a "useless fact". The number is meant to manipulate you into clicking the article based on the belief that Amazon is unfairly compensating its employees. While I'm not an advocate for Amazon's work practices, this article provides no further analysis than a copy pasted line from a financial report. We need more context and analysis if you actually want to understand whether that number is or is not unreasonable.

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#69

Post by randyrand » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

smt88 wrote: post #52

colek42 wrote: post #39

There is this false assumption that people are paid what they are worth. People are paid what the market will bear. $28k is about 13/hour. For places like East TN this is not a horrible wage, and you can live on it. As a comparison, an entry-level position in the military, E1, makes less even when you account for allowances.

> There is this false assumption that people are paid what they are worth. Who thinks this? I don't know any adult who is that naive. > People are paid what the market will bear. In many industries, the employer side of the market is vastly more powerful than the employee. The employer can just pass on an employee asking for too much money; an employee may be facing weeks without a job, which is difficult for most pe…

Take an economics course. It should be eye opening. Honestly, it should be required reading for anyone that debates politics and economics.

https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microec...

Re: Amazon worker’s median pay in 2017: $28,446

#70

Post by deadmetheny » Thu, Apr 19, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

sol_remmy wrote: post #46

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we please end this charade of pretending a $14 wage is kingly anywhere? I mean even the whole idea of 'banjo-playing areas'? Come on. I find it really gross the way people that have good jobs and have never left urban/suburban environments typecast the rest of the country.

> I find it gross that.. Can you leave the mock disgust behind? You probably live in an urban/suburban area just like the rest of us, yet your lecturing us. $14 an hour is not as bad as you think. Median nursing salary in England = 23000 pounds = 32300 usd. So the median amazon warehouse worker makes 82.5% of what the median nurse makes in the U.K. Is that really so bad?

I do live in a rural area of the USA, and I can verify that making $14/hr is enough to live a modest lower middle class lifestyle around here. Is that good enough for you?

A lot of people here have preconceived notions about the living conditions of non-coastal areas and, to be frank, it gets old. OP is correct to lecture people because they are completely fucking correct in most cases.