221–230 of 511 posts
This is going to be a shock to all of those people who were willing to give tax incentives for Amazon to build distribution warehouses in their city in exchange for "jobs." Though, this is only the beginning. A few thousand jobs now, the majority of them later.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You mentioned two processes that have been in place with Amazon Vendors/Manufacturers for many years. 1. Amazon Direct Fulfillment (dropship): Order is shipped directly from the manufacturer to the customer. Amazon pays for the shipping label and contractually "own" the item once it leaves the MFR doors. Amazon incentivizes Manufacturers by paying the freight and loosening shipment deadlines. [1] 2. Ships In Own Cont…
> Ships In Own Container (Amazon SIOC) certification puts the responsibility on the manufacturer to certify their products can be shipped without extra packaging. Sorry, but how can this be a good idea? I'd hate if I ordered something expensive, for example a digital camera, and every porch pirate (or shady parcel delivery subcontractor) immediately sees "this thing is worth a couple grand", compared with the usual A…
Surprised to find so many modern Luddites in comments. History lessons says that new professions will appear.
But that's the whole point though. We're creating bs jobs to replace the bs jobs we automated. What's our goal as a society ? Shouldn't we think about working less, better spreading wealth, figuring out a plan so people don't have to work multiple jobs to barely survive ? Right now almost everywhere in the world we're heading for longer work week and increased retirement age. So much for "automation will deliver us f…
We should but that would put a decent dent in corporate profits. Germany actually followed this for a long time - since the aftermath of WW2 up until the collapse of the UdSSR we had the "Soziale Marktwirtschaft" which is basically what you described. Then after communism fell, neoliberalism took over.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Smart dudes have wrestled over those problems for years. I think the strongest case for dropshipping would be new cars. The dealerships have presented a problem for people for years, but they are politically well connected. It's a lot easier for a manufacturer to send a boxcar of toilet paper to a warehouse (Amazon or otherwise) than to mail the case to you. Lacking Amazon or Safeway, they'd probably just recreate a…
> Smart dudes have wrestled over those problems for years. I think the strongest case for dropshipping would be new cars. The dealerships have presented a problem for people for years, but they are politically well connected. I've been studying this lately, and it really seems to be more than that. Consumers love to compare goods based upon initial purchase price (or even loan payment price) with relatively little re…
This is going to be a shock to all of those people who were willing to give tax incentives for Amazon to build distribution warehouses in their city in exchange for "jobs." Though, this is only the beginning. A few thousand jobs now, the majority of them later.
[0] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/05/amazo...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe something called 'communism' which addresses that. Snark aside, automating shitty jobs is a Good Thing. Finding new and better jobs for those impacted should be a major political priority. Education is one aspect, but comes too late for those already on the workforce. Places like Japan keep unemployment low by having many low skill jobs, like mall greeters and whatnot. This may be better than unemployment,…
The United States, is, in a sense, a communist country, given that most people own a good portion of major companies. However, like every other communist society literally ever, your diminutive share of ownership means little and there's still one guy in charge, except our guys differ by industry and vertical.
Are you revering to the stock market? I don‘t believe this is true. Just because half of adults own stock doesnt mean they own a good portion of these companies. Remember the richest 1% own 35% of the wealth.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A UBI in the salary range of an Amazon warehouse worker would be on the order of 1/3rd GDP.
UBI supporters always seem to forget that the money has to come from somewhere.
San Francisco was recently reported to have 1 billionaire for every 11,600 residents [1]. Maybe we should start looking there.
1: https://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/billionaires-San-Franci...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Increasing the productivity of a job does not eliminate it. Of course it does. Not on an individual level, but if suddenly one employee can do three times more work, there is no need to recruit 2 more full time jobs to address the increasing needs. So on the whole, productivity will destroy jobs, but the good news is that the additional returns will create other jobs in other areas.
It depends on the demand "function." We only need so many socks. If sockmakers get more efficient, there'll be fewer sockmakers and prices will come down shrinking the industry. In some cases, if productivity increases, and the price performance follows, we will consume far more of a thing, growing the market and employing more people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pay a living wage and offer humane working conditions. This is not rocket science...
I guess (economics aside) that a wage increase is a simple concept to grasp. But I'm interested how Amazon's working conditions are "inhumane"? I've read about 'picking' jobs which require lifting, bend, and walking for many miles per shift, but this doesn't seem more inhumane than many other jobs requiring manual labour? And I've read about complaints about the rate of workplace accidents (this was highlighted in th…
> During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn't quickly cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time.
> An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an "unsafe environment" after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor's report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators, including a security guard who reported seeing pregnant employees suffering in the heat.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In such a way that people choose to work for Amazon instead of those other employers, so Amazon’s jobs must be fairly attractive to them.
If the alternative is no job the math works out differently. I think that a considerable number of people on this site don't really know what it like to not have employers fighting over them. Sometimes you take what you can get to feed yourself and your kids.