I lasted three minutes at Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#81

Post by hstan4 » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

amyjess wrote: post #72

hoten wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Content from that subreddit has gotten a ton of play on social media in recent months. It does seem the most viral stories from the subreddit are embellished, but I can't pinpoint why they seem that way.

They feel like the fake LinkedIn stories about "someone showed up for an interview and they were late and had zero relevant skills and experience but I hired them anyway and they turned out to be the best employee I ever had", except with the polarity reversed.

Haha this is spot on actually

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#82

Post by friedman23 » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

nexuist wrote: post #45

ushakov wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

isn't this the same with tech jobs though? you are just as replaceable and the interview process is only there to filter out the bad candidates it's only more intense because the cost/risk ratio is magnitudes higher

We don't earn better pay and benefits because we are special, brilliant people. We are given these benefits because there is a perpetual labor shortage of people who have enough tech experience to do their employers' bidding and nobody will show up if they don't doll these out. In other words, we are a fluke, and we'll lose these benefits once they figure out how to commoditize software development. Which is a pretty…

> Which is a pretty strong argument for a tech workers union (

Yeah, let's do it when we get there

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#83

Post by GenerocUsername » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

hhmc wrote: post #69

mherdeg wrote: post #17

Hmm this is an interesting anecdote to compare against the view ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29459245 ) that: > In the Earnings Call in July of this year, they said they now employe 950,000 warehouse workers. They're probably over the 1 MM mark right now due to the holidays. Yes, there are plenty of people working there that are overqualified, but that is the beauty of what Amazon is doing. Their onboarding…

At what workforce size/turnover do you run into the issue that you might churn through your entire countrywide hiring pool?

New ones born every year?

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#84

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:08 AM UTC

ProjectArcturis wrote: post #61

mherdeg wrote: post #17

Hmm this is an interesting anecdote to compare against the view ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29459245 ) that: > In the Earnings Call in July of this year, they said they now employe 950,000 warehouse workers. They're probably over the 1 MM mark right now due to the holidays. Yes, there are plenty of people working there that are overqualified, but that is the beauty of what Amazon is doing. Their onboarding…

That's... not an anecdote? Also, fun math question: if they have 1MM workers, and hire 500k every year, what is their turnover rate?

[deleted]

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#85

Post by katzgrau » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:09 AM UTC

It's easy to blame this on Amazon, but anyone who's worked in retail for a big company knows that this is just your standard low level employee incompetence and power tripping.

It's really a swamp down there. Glad I made it out.

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#86

Post by Dylan16807 » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:09 AM UTC

ushakov wrote: post #9

dekhn wrote: post #5

I had to read carefully into the article before I understood this is probably a fulfillment center job, not an AWS SWE.

what else did you expect from the antiwork subreddit? it's a boiler room for low-skilled wagies /s edit: c'mon people, stop the downvotes, this was a joke

> edit: c'mon people, stop the downvotes, this was a joke

What's the joke, though? Saying something mean that you don't really believe could be part of a joke but it's not a joke by itself.

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#87

Post by antiterra » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:09 AM UTC

It’s always been surreal when I’ve had the chance to be/sit next to contractors whose every minute is accounted for and who cannot take a single day of vacation without finding someone to swap shifts with, every action under the scrutiny of a shift manager lording over them like a narcissistic parent.

All the while, the salaried, fully insured and vastly more expensive ‘real’ employees all show up late to meetings, randomly work from home because their ISP is upgrading their equipment and occasionally drag a lunch to two hours or more.

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#88

Post by politician » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:10 AM UTC

nexuist wrote: post #32

johnny35 wrote: post #4

Systematizing and optimizing every detail of operations to create as large of a pool as possible of positions requiring the least possible skill, reducing the cost of turnover, training, and management complexity... seems to be externalizing a heavy toll on mental health. Regulation can tackle many cases of "socialized losses, privatized gains" but I am at a loss to understand how we can mitigate this one.

Other than the drug test it didn't seem like there was a single thing OP was required to do that wouldn't be solved by automation. At my current job we set up direct deposit, filled out info for background checks, completed training videos and quizzes, etc. all through online forms. Everyone OP interacted with shouldn't even be in the picture. It's a warehouse job; I struggle to see why you even need any humans in th…

The safety people need to be there.

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#89

Post by jcun4128 » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:10 AM UTC

Random anecdote: I remember trying to get a job at McDonalds and I had to take these tests like "would you rather kill 1 person or 5" it's like you had to choose one. I did not get that job. Similar process for other stuff like washing plates at chains.

Re: I lasted three minutes at Amazon

#90

Post by Mountain_Skies » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:11 AM UTC

hhmc wrote: post #69

mherdeg wrote: post #17

Hmm this is an interesting anecdote to compare against the view ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29459245 ) that: > In the Earnings Call in July of this year, they said they now employe 950,000 warehouse workers. They're probably over the 1 MM mark right now due to the holidays. Yes, there are plenty of people working there that are overqualified, but that is the beauty of what Amazon is doing. Their onboarding…

At what workforce size/turnover do you run into the issue that you might churn through your entire countrywide hiring pool?

There was a new article a few months ago about Amazon being worried about that very thing. So they're aware of it but corporate America has an ace up their sleeve they can always rely on: work visas. Politicians aren't going to say no when Amazon wants to import guest workers. Amazon done it for the white collar workers for decades, no doubt they'll be quite happy to do it with their blue collar workforce too.