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'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

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Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#391

Post by bostonsre »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #93
tablespoon wrote: post #24

This old TechCrunch article from 2018 ( https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/23/what-is-this-weird-twitter... ) posted at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26636153 has a former "Amazon Ambassador" actually explain that job: > An actual former ambassador and three year Florida warehouse veteran Chris Grantham explained it in more detail to Yahoo Finance’s Krystal Hu, who shared the information with TechCrunch: >> When I…

For decades, I never thought people who kiss ass could have been serious. I was sure they were just cynically playing a game of advancement, and I despised them for it. What I've come to learn -- as disappointing as it is to me -- is that some people view this sort of thing as actual, legitimate opportunity, and are acting out of internal integrity. They don't see the hypocrisy of the power imbalance and how the comp…

It's tough out there. There aren't many jobs out there for that skill level that pay as much as shuffling boxes in warehouses. There isn't much opportunity for advancement no matter how hard you work. It may seem a little immoral, but I couldn't fault people too much for trying to better provide for their family using whatever means are necessary.

The incentives for each layer are geared towards maximizing shareholder value. First layer managers aren't trying to soley optimize box throughput, else they could give raises to incentivize employees better. They are trying to get as many boxes through as possible while keeping costs low. They cut hours to avoid paying OT and sometimes Healthcare. They rule with fear. This forces employees to fight for scraps and do other things they normally wouldn't do like become an ambassador to try to better provide for their families. The moral managers don't advance their careers while the ones good at exploitation do and are promoted. It's a darwinian survival of the most vicious and cunning.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#392

Post by totalZero »

impendia wrote: post #274
eeeeehhhhh wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew this was going to be posted. I've been thinking about this post for a decade now and I can't help but feel that, although it does reflect part of reality, the Gervais Principle is overly cynical in my opinion, and those who adopt the view will have it compounded by confirmation bias because it is partially true. The things described happen at toxic organizations but the author leaves no room for honest positiv…

> Where does that leave people like doctors who earnestly help their patients? Not a doctor, but a college professor. I love my job, take pride in it, and work hard at it. But I think of myself as working for my students, my collaborators, and my immediate colleagues. I pay little attention to my university as a whole, don't view it especially positively, haven't learned how to work its bureaucracy, and feel little l…

If only all professors had this attitude.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#393

Post by ALittleLight »

hda2 wrote: post #365
alienthrowaway wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What a miserable existence that must be. Bezos has always struck me as a man who cares about nothing else only his own personal wealth and success. On the contrary, he is probably very happy with the way things are. You may be buying into the "Just World fallacy"; there are plenty of people you may find despicable who are leading happy, fulfilling lives, by their standards. I think the antipathy towards workers a c…

There's a meaningful distinction between happy and comfortable. He might lead a very comfortable life but I have to agree with GP that he doesn't /seem/ to be a very happy person. Of course, I (and you) say this from the position of people who don't know the man in person. It's all baseless backbiting.

He always seems smiling and laughing in all the interviews I've seen him in. I know he has children plus a partner (and ex-wife). He's super rich, famous, gets to do what he wants, likes newspapers so he bought a big one, likes rockets so he is giving his own rocket/space company a go...

Obviously this isn't dispositive to say he's happy, but I don't think it proves he's unhappy either. Not wanting your workers to unionize hardly seems like proof of an unhappy life.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#394

Post by Clewza313 »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #364
sudosysgen wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the fact that nowadays doctor is mostly a rote memorization educational path, I often wonder if increasing the number of doctors but reducing hours and somewhat pay would be an overall improvement. Both me and my girlfriend were majors of our promotions and had more than enough in the way of academic achievement to become doctors, but the insane workload was a very effective deterrent.

Australia has tried to get some of the way there with Nurse Practitioners. I'm in Tasmania, so here's the a PDF from the Tasmanian Department of Health Services explaining what a Nurse Practitioner can do, including prescribing some medication and interpreting diagnostic test https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/6408...

This is partly because in Australia, regular nurses can do virtually nothing on their own initiative.

A friend of mine was an ICU nurse in Canada before moving to Australia. It was a long and painful process to get qualified again, and when she did, she found out she had been demoted from being able to meaningfully improve patient care (eg the prescriptions and diagnoses you mention) to a robot carrying out orders.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#395

Post by cies »

ALittleLight wrote: post #393
hda2 wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a meaningful distinction between happy and comfortable. He might lead a very comfortable life but I have to agree with GP that he doesn't /seem/ to be a very happy person. Of course, I (and you) say this from the position of people who don't know the man in person. It's all baseless backbiting.

He always seems smiling and laughing in all the interviews I've seen him in. I know he has children plus a partner (and ex-wife). He's super rich, famous, gets to do what he wants, likes newspapers so he bought a big one, likes rockets so he is giving his own rocket/space company a go... Obviously this isn't dispositive to say he's happy, but I don't think it proves he's unhappy either. Not wanting your workers to un…

> likes newspapers so he bought a big one

Most ultra rich buy news companies. It's part of your portfolio to ensure you have maximum say in the political decision process.

See "Manufactured Consent", there's a cool animated video explaining it on YT.

> Not wanting your workers to unionize hardly seems like proof of an unhappy life.

Indeed. It just shows you are above the law, and a authoritarian/oppressive.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#396

Post by RileyJames »

natosaichek wrote: post #146
542458 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about just requiring companies to identify paid messaging (like political ads: “Paid for by XYZ”)? Obviously this doesn’t solve any messaging coming from overseas, but it at least helps with companies with an American presence astroturfing their own reviews etc.

Enforcement is the challenge. Without tracking down every reviewer, there is currently no way to determine whether a review was left by an employee of a covered/relevant company, or just a 'civilian.'

5% of revenue. Don't need to catch many, or often, to get the message across. The cost has to outweigh the risk. If it's still prevalent after 5 years, double it.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#397

Post by refurb »

TheRealSteel wrote: post #382
refurb wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Workers enter into an agreement - compensation for labor. There are plenty of people at Amazon who are now millionaires or very highly paid.

People have rent to pay. The "you agreed to it" argument only works if the person genuinely had other realistic options available to them. Nobody would work for peanuts and pee in bottles if they had another realistic option.

Why would you assume workers don’t have other options? The unemployment rate before Covid was the lowest since the 50’s.

If the Amazon job is so bad then there must be plenty of better options?

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#398

Post by Uberphallus »

wheybags wrote: post #195
disabled wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of my work revolves around physiological research of bioelectrical signals produced by the human body. If you have spent as much time in this niche field as I have, you would know that this had to be a fake, both from the apparent context already stated along with details that others do not know. For example, for your 5 person "crew" to be using the Astroskin, let's just say that you would have to invest $10k-$…

To me, it reads like a joke, not a bot.

Yeah, it's certainly a joke. Also it's the one single review of that item. Why would you bot a single review of an item?

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#399

Post by libraryatnight »

sudosysgen wrote: post #356
rgblambda wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Where does that leave people like doctors who earnestly help their patients? Making positive contributions to society doesn't change the fact that you're being exploited. It's become increasingly clear that Doctors (at least where I'm from) have low pay early in their careers, unsafe working conditions, and have almost no life outside of work. On top of that they have a stressful job involving interacting with membe…

Given the fact that nowadays doctor is mostly a rote memorization educational path, I often wonder if increasing the number of doctors but reducing hours and somewhat pay would be an overall improvement. Both me and my girlfriend were majors of our promotions and had more than enough in the way of academic achievement to become doctors, but the insane workload was a very effective deterrent.

This is purely anecdotal but, please, no more influx of antibiotic and steroid dispensing doctors that don't know anything else. I'm so tired of doctors that give me the distinct impression they're the equivalent of a tier 1 desktop support rep for the human body.

Or if we must have them, please keep the confined to the minute clinics at the drug store and bar them from billing themselves as real GPs.

Re: 'Fake' Amazon workers defend company on Twitter

#400

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

Clewza313 wrote: post #394
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia has tried to get some of the way there with Nurse Practitioners. I'm in Tasmania, so here's the a PDF from the Tasmanian Department of Health Services explaining what a Nurse Practitioner can do, including prescribing some medication and interpreting diagnostic test https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/6408...

This is partly because in Australia, regular nurses can do virtually nothing on their own initiative. A friend of mine was an ICU nurse in Canada before moving to Australia. It was a long and painful process to get qualified again, and when she did, she found out she had been demoted from being able to meaningfully improve patient care (eg the prescriptions and diagnoses you mention) to a robot carrying out orders.

I intentional refrained from ranting about the medical profession’s protectionism in Australia.
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