Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force

#71

Post by mywittyname » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #32

mywittyname wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that most laymen find our line of work to be kind of trivial and think that success in this field is more related to youth than intelligence. To them, "coding" is more akin to carpentry (a trade) than physics (a science). Also, pointing out that not every coal miner can learn to code is seen as culturally insensitive and perpetuating the stereotype that rural people are dumb. Which I understand, but a littl…

Is carpentry really that easy to master? Practical arts all require lots of practice. The only thing that makes coding very different is all the abstraction (so more like machine design than wood assembly).

I used carpentry very deliberately. It's a skill that's seen to require practice, but is still very accessible. Most able-bodied people can build stuff with wood. In fact, most of our grandfathers (assuming American) probably did wood working as a hobby.

It used to be taught to grade school kids. I distinctly remember building adirondack chairs, picnic tables, and benches in wood shop, from dimensional lumber, for use in local parks. Thirteen year old kids can build practical objects using wood, with guidance.

While physics is voodoo. Even genuinely intelligent people have difficulty grasping it.

CS probably lies somewhere in-between, intellectually, but is seen as something that can just be taught to any person and they can be productive.

Re: Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force

#72

Post by lbatx » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #53

lbatx wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Is it really too much to believe that someone with a physically demanding job might be in good enough condition to do something else after work? I'm pretty sure folks in all sorts of physical jobs have physical hobbies as well. You never hear this sort of excuse about carpenters. 2. It's hard to work full time and go to school after. It's by definition going above and beyond.

"Excuse"? You think people are being too lenient about the warehouse workers? Those jobs are awful, and it's not about simply being a physical job. I would much rather do carpentry.

There are a lot of awful jobs. Roofer in Phoenix in the summer, for example.

No, I don't think people are being too lenient -- it's a bit more subtle than that. There are many physically demanding jobs, some as much or more so than warehouse worker. I was questioning why we never see people say people in those job families couldn't possibly study after a day at work.

What you want to do is also irrelevant, as you might have an enjoyment of carpentry. Me, I hate it, and would rather be a warehouse worker.

Re: Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force

#73

Post by lbatx » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:08 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #56

lbatx wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Is it really too much to believe that someone with a physically demanding job might be in good enough condition to do something else after work? I'm pretty sure folks in all sorts of physical jobs have physical hobbies as well. You never hear this sort of excuse about carpenters. 2. It's hard to work full time and go to school after. It's by definition going above and beyond.

Amazon warehouse jobs aren't just physically demanding. I agree that one can study hard after half a day spent on some physical effort. Instead the problem is that Amazon pickers are under constant stress all those hours to meet targets far more demanding than most other jobs. I would expect that constant mental stress to leave people so frazzled at day's end that they would be unable to hit the books and concentrate…

> far more demanding than most other jobs

And you've just made my point for me. "Most" other jobs. It's not the most difficult, most physical, most dangerous. Where are the people saying people in job "X" can't possibly study after a day at work? Somehow, that reasoning is confined to warehouse workers.