I wonder what this guy's blood pressure level is.
Advice: Make an effort to slow down by 10-20%, and then take it from there.
From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
71–80 of 352 posts
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Software development is taxing on your brain the same way physical labor is taxing on your body. It’s depressing, soul sucking work. You’re stuck inside, staring at a screen for 8+ hours a day.
Working at amazon as an order picker is depressing, soul sucking and can wreck your body for the remainder of your life. Devs can get by working few hours a day, some barely do any work at all. I refuse to stare at a screen 8+ hours a day. I take healthy breaks and create boundaries. I rarely have to solve puzzles at work. The grunt of the work is almost the same thing over and over.
You might be surprised to learn that for every dev working “few hours a day” or barely doing anything at all, there is another engineer doing all their work for them - usually in a constant state of fending off burnout due to having to do other peoples’ work in addition to their own.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#73This person seems like they are suffering from typical tech bubble non-awareness disease. They always strive to make the world a better place as… a director of Facebook. Debatable. Early retirement is such a nightmare for me that.. I became an Amazon Warehouse Associate out of boredom? I’m not sure how any of this narcissism is making the world a better place.
Yep, the guy never reflects on his privilege not needing this job. Bad on the blogger too for not prompting them on this - it could have been an interesting article..
I would encourage you to listen to the podcast, because he definitely does reflect on this, but it wasn’t the focus of my interview, because this was focused on ways in which burned out tech workers try to find meaning in their life, not an analysis of low paid jobs.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#74I work in FAANG and enjoy Costco. Sometimes in the food court I day-dream of working there. You know what you are doing, you use your body, you go home and don't think about it.
I told my friend. He thought it sounded a lot like larping.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#75It's interesting that he developed tendonitis. I've read that the rate of injury at amazon jobs is incredibly high , which is not good practice in my view. Article says amazon rate of serious injury 80% higher than competitors https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57332390
The other way to look at this is that Amazon actually reports injuries. My brother worked at a "mom & pop" carpet warehouse and they wouldn't report anything unless it resulted in a hospital visit i.e. broken bones, high blood loss, concussion, etc...
yeah I always found the public, but especially tech's industries interest in Amazon's warehouse conditions somewhat dubious.
Where I used to live there were tons of people who worked at normal warehouses and switched over to Amazon b/c the pay was better and things were basically the same.
Amazon gets tons of, at least somewhat deserved, heat for what they do, but compared to the truly horrific things done by something like the meatpacking industry? idk if the amount of shit they get is equal to the actual on the ground conditions.
Working for a mom and pop manual labor gig generally sucks wayyyy more than a big corporate one. (Lower pay, shittier if any benefits, longer hours, much more nepotism, no recourse for issues etc.)
EDIT: for context on the meatpacking thing.
Meatpackers will illegally import immigrants, pay them much cheaper under the table and if there's an inkling of dissent get ice to round them up and deport them. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/29/ohio-ice...
Also meatpacking is basically a monopoly, that the feds are trying to fight.
https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/joe-biden-debuts-1-bi....
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#76There were many times in my programming career when I wanted to take a mental break and just do some kind of menial job for a few months. There are many routine jobs that don't require much training so it should be easy to do one for 6 months. The problem is generally that most people's career paths do not allow for this kind of thing. It looks bad on your resume to have 'truck driver' or 'shelf stocker' in-between t…
I solved this by simply getting hobbies that involve manual labor. You get the physical exertion and the ability to see the results of the work of your hands--without the drudgery of a job and the pressure of having your livelihood depend on not wrecking your body. If you're not feeling up to it today, just don't go out to the garage. Need extra zen time to forget your JIRA queue? Spend a few extra hours hobbying.
Started with auto mechanics, learned basic maintenance, moved on to minor, then major auto repairs. Then tried woodworking, built a few pieces of furniture for the house, then moved on to sheet metal. Finally ended up building a two-seat airplane. Physical hobbies are both satisfying AND low-pressure. Plus, you shouldn't have to quit your tech job to get a hobby.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#77There were many times in my programming career when I wanted to take a mental break and just do some kind of menial job for a few months. There are many routine jobs that don't require much training so it should be easy to do one for 6 months. The problem is generally that most people's career paths do not allow for this kind of thing. It looks bad on your resume to have 'truck driver' or 'shelf stocker' in-between t…
Genuine question, why does it look bad? I don't think this would be a problem at all where I live (Australia). Worst case you could just leave it off your resume.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#78Guy who doesn’t need to work slums it with the poors to self actualize. Fuck this guy.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#79This person seems like they are suffering from typical tech bubble non-awareness disease. They always strive to make the world a better place as… a director of Facebook. Debatable. Early retirement is such a nightmare for me that.. I became an Amazon Warehouse Associate out of boredom? I’m not sure how any of this narcissism is making the world a better place.
He's a stranger sharing his experience, people obviously found it to be interesting.
Re-contextualizing into a class struggle style comment, just because he shared his experience, is not very interesting.
All blogging is narcissism if you redefine narcissism to be the most bland shade of the word's meaning.
Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate
#80This is kind of awesome