Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#121

Post by rcxdude » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:28 PM UTC

parhamn wrote: post #117

reaperducer wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least the airlines will get another bailout, after selfishly spending billions on stock buybacks while shrinking seats and hiking fees. Meanwhile, Joe Average, who ended up running a food truck when Wells Fargo "right sized" him during the last recession, will find a comfortable slab of concrete upon which to rest his head, under the viaduct.

> after selfishly spending billions on stock buybacks I've been seeing this on twitter a lot. Is there some context you can provide for why these particular repurchases were in bad taste, given no awareness of the upcoming pandemic. I am assuming you don't view repurchases as 'selfish' generally.

I think the main thing is the airline industry is boom and bust, while being quite sensitive to a number of factors out of their control, but because they know they'll get bailed out by the public they have no reason to try saving to make their business robust against such things on their own. These talking points seem to be coming from this article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/opinion/airlines-bailout....

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#122

Post by WalterBright » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:28 PM UTC

fiblye wrote: post #79

WalterBright wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We must have a rent holiday if those businesses and their workers are to survive. We'll get a lot of rent forgiveness naturally. If a strip mall has some tenants who cannot make rent in this crisis, who are they going to get who can pay? The pragmatic approach is to keep your existing tenants, because their survival is your strip mall's survival.

We might get a lot, but it likely won’t be enough. Many land owners would already prefer to leave their buildings empty for years over even considering negotiating on rent. I doubt anything can change their minds.

Not if they're short on cash, which they will be with this panic.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#123

Post by Jagat » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:28 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #89

hirundo wrote: post #68

If this were a Bond movie, Bezos would be cackling in his secret lair about how his viral plan was coming to fruition. Bond (played by Idris Elba) would then cough on Bezos, who would whip out his antidote, which Bond would grab, escape, and release to the world before being killed by Thanos. (Pitch Meeting, call me)

If Bezos needs an evil villain lair for his secret headquarters, I know a fortress in the American desert with three-foot-thick stone walls, solar and diesel electricity, and its own water facilities, perched on a mountain ridge for maximum visibility 150 miles from anywhere meaningful. Last I saw, it was for sale for $750k.

Here's the vice documentary on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mutpYD0Amfk

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#124

Post by WalterBright » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:29 PM UTC

michaelt wrote: post #77

WalterBright wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We must have a rent holiday if those businesses and their workers are to survive. We'll get a lot of rent forgiveness naturally. If a strip mall has some tenants who cannot make rent in this crisis, who are they going to get who can pay? The pragmatic approach is to keep your existing tenants, because their survival is your strip mall's survival.

A cynical, calculating strip mall landlord might think they're more likely to get a government cash handout (or a cash handout to their tenants who then hand it to them, which is effectively the same thing) if they prove their tenants will go bankrupt without it.

It simply does the landlord no good at all to evict them.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#125

Post by dmd » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:33 PM UTC

nixpulvis wrote: post #103

SQL2219 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He looks like Lex Luther.

More like Mr Evil. Prolly has a base on the dark side of the moon.

Fortunately, the new moon is just a week away, at which point the "dark side" of the moon will be facing Earth and we'll have a clear view of his base.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#126

Post by umeshunni » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:34 PM UTC

majormajor wrote: post #110

fiblye wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We might get a lot, but it likely won’t be enough. Many land owners would already prefer to leave their buildings empty for years over even considering negotiating on rent. I doubt anything can change their minds.

We need taxes on vacancies. Encourage people to let property go to people who can put it to some use. Prevent blight and crime, etc, too.

Ah yes, the California solution to everything - tax it.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#127

Post by bpfrh » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:37 PM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #60

One of the more worrying things to me is how this pandemic (and/or our response to it) will disproportionately affect small businesses and individuals. As Amazon hires 100k workers how many jobs are being lost by small businesses failing?

Depends, in austria you have different laws and measures for one person companies to bigger companies.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#128

Post by _jal » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:38 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #92

WalterBright wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marginal businesses of any size are going to fail, and the less marginal will become marginal. Larger businesses have a proportionately larger need for money to sustain themselves. Big business doesn't mean rich business. Look what's happening to the airlines.

You mean like American Airlines that had a profit of $7.6 billion in 2015, and didn't save dollar one for a rainy day? Instead, it bought back $15 billion worth of stock over six years while raising fees and shrinking seats? “I don’t think we’re ever going to lose money again,” -Doug Parker, American Airlines CEO, 2017. Let 'em fail.

Letting them all fail would do more harm to others than warranted.

But letting the weakest one fail as a warning to the others that the bailouts are over and perhaps they should learn to save against rainy days isn't the worst idea.

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#129

Post by matthewfcarlson » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:39 PM UTC

BetaDeltaAlpha wrote: post #99

hirundo wrote: post #68

If this were a Bond movie, Bezos would be cackling in his secret lair about how his viral plan was coming to fruition. Bond (played by Idris Elba) would then cough on Bezos, who would whip out his antidote, which Bond would grab, escape, and release to the world before being killed by Thanos. (Pitch Meeting, call me)

> ...before being killed by Thanos. I read Theranos at first.

In some ways, it thematically works better

Re: Amazon to hire 100k warehouse and delivery workers

#130

Post by joshgachnang » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #94

WalterBright wrote: post #64

I suspected Amazon would do well in this crisis, and this development confirms it. My elderly neighbors, for example, are now ordering their groceries online and having them dumped on their doorstep.

Lucky them. Amazon in my area hasn't had an available delivery slot in almost a week.

Same in LA. I got through by checking in at midnight. Took 4 days to get groceries, but almost everything showed up (like 57/59 items)