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I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

quillette.com

101–110 of 289 posts

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. I was once in a HR seminar where they welcomed you to the company. When the woman said "we get 19 days PTO a year", you'd be surprised how many people shot up and said "can we start taking them right now?" Before they had even worked a day! PTO days are accurred by hours worked. For me, it's ~6 hours per 15 calendar days. You think you're entitled to PTO having worked 0 hours?...

Seriously? That's the first/only question I ask about vacation policy because it's usually the only detail that isn't included in the first draft of the offer letter. Of course, I also ask before signing the contract. PTO is a significant part of your total compensation. Not clarifying how accrual works is just irresponsible. I honestly don't see how this is any different from asking about other time-based things, su…

" Of course, I also ask before signing the contract."

I can't stress enough how important that is. You better know what you're signing.

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed.

Probably referring to the contents of this: https://quillette.com/2019/06/05/superior-the-return-of-race...

Searching for “phrenology” doesn’t return a single result until the comments. And the article seems to be a fairly balanced review. It starts by crediting the author of the book they are reviewing for several things before making a reasoned argument against her conclusions. What am I missing?

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#104
post #7

The author seems to very much worry that negative press is going to be the cause of him losing his job due to automation: >Just about every job in my sortation center could probably be done by a robot. In fact, it amazes me that Amazon hasn’t simply automated the entire facility. [...] If I had to guess, I’d say that Amazon continues to employ lots of human beings because, by putting money into the pockets of working…

A large part of the reason a lot of companies keep jobs only partially automated, is so that they can flex capacity up and down with demand.

With automation you have to buy all that capacity upfront and pay for it if you're using it or not. With labor, you can send people home early or cut hours if you don't need them.

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably referring to the contents of this: https://quillette.com/2019/06/05/superior-the-return-of-race...

Searching for “phrenology” doesn’t return a single result until the comments. And the article seems to be a fairly balanced review. It starts by crediting the author of the book they are reviewing for several things before making a reasoned argument against her conclusions. What am I missing?

> What am I missing?

That Quillette is a festering shithole?

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#106
>Warehouses, such as the one I work in, have huge cargo bays that are almost always open to receive the back ends of incoming tractor trailer rigs. When these bays are open it is virtually impossible to control the temperature inside the warehouse artificially.

Why can't they section off the loading zones and put something like air doors or strip doors to keep the cold/warm air from escaping?

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#107
post #31

Note that the publishing title of the article is “Tourist Journalism Versus the Working Class”, which should be an indication of the author’s bias. The story initially begins with comparing the personal, working experience of the author with what he has seen depicted in the media. I thought it was compelling, even if the author worked in a “sortation warehouse” instead of the “fulfillment center” frequently covered,…

It seems kind of like people who go to volunteer in Africa to "earn" themselves a story of adversity and dealing with rough situations.

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. I was once in a HR seminar where they welcomed you to the company. When the woman said "we get 19 days PTO a year", you'd be surprised how many people shot up and said "can we start taking them right now?" Before they had even worked a day! PTO days are accurred by hours worked. For me, it's ~6 hours per 15 calendar days. You think you're entitled to PTO having worked 0 hours?...

Seriously? That's the first/only question I ask about vacation policy because it's usually the only detail that isn't included in the first draft of the offer letter. Of course, I also ask before signing the contract. PTO is a significant part of your total compensation. Not clarifying how accrual works is just irresponsible. I honestly don't see how this is any different from asking about other time-based things, su…

"How does it accrue?" might be a better way of asking than "Can we start taking it right now?"

Re: I work in an Amazon warehouse in West Sacramento

#110
post #106

>Warehouses, such as the one I work in, have huge cargo bays that are almost always open to receive the back ends of incoming tractor trailer rigs. When these bays are open it is virtually impossible to control the temperature inside the warehouse artificially. Why can't they section off the loading zones and put something like air doors or strip doors to keep the cold/warm air from escaping?

The company I work for encloses the entire dock area with a giant overhang and there's a giant door for the semis to drive thru into the warehouse. It's totally a thing, but it costs extra. We do it because some of the products are temperature sensitive.
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