From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate • Hacker News Board

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#141

Post by BurningFrog » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:11 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #70

avgDev wrote: post #9

"The experience was physically taxing, he was diagnosed with tendonitis after moving hundreds of boxes a day, but it pulled him out of his depression and helped him gain perspective and a deeper sense of meaning"....... I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. I've had many physical shitty jobs in my 20's. Then, I had some health issue and co…

> What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. This person went from a 23-year career sitting at a desk to doing physical labor all day. Any physical labor is going to take a toll on someone in their 40s who hasn't been doing physical labor. I have a lot of people in my extended social circle who are in physical labor jobs. Amazon Warehouse jobs are always viewed as the "easy" fa…

You can also write a very similar rant about how sedentary desk jobs are not sustainable with all the obesity related life shortening conditions it leads to :)

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#142

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:12 PM UTC

jasonshen wrote: post #73

CoffeeOnWrite wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#143

Post by Bakary » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:15 PM UTC

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #74

I 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.

If you work in a FAANG (presumably as some sort of knowledge worker) you have a unique opportunity to never have to work again within just a few years of saving.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#144

Post by wnolens » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:17 PM UTC

Similar story with me. Except I ended up in AWS!

Worked in different big tech for 7y, and took a sabbatical because I could, and so why not?

Well after a year of travelling and working on my own ideas and a bit of contract work, I entered a complete pit of depression. I mean contemplating ending it all to stop the pain. Instead big daddy Bezos was handing out tech jobs like candy so I took one begrudgingly just to have someone else to be accountable to, because I found it completely impossible to live with only my own expectations.

It helped. I'm halfway good again (or perhaps just a different, darker normal), with a different outlook on what and why I do things. But goodness.. I will never retire again. Not without kids to raise, or something/someone else to be accountable to.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#145

Post by jasonshen » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:18 PM UTC

OP here. Decided to share this on HN because it seemed relevant given the earlier article on seeking structure. A lot of folks responded to my comment about Philip sharing that they too have experienced a yearning for physical labor.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33070986

Life takes all of us in different directions, I thought HN readers would find this path instructive.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#146

Post by Bakary » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:18 PM UTC

themitigating wrote: post #96

spoonjim wrote: post #26

Working in an Amazon warehouse can be refreshing and restorative when you can quit after 10 weeks and have millions of dollars in the bank. Not so much when you get tendonitis after 6 weeks but have to stare down another 30 years of this and still won’t have any savings.

Yes and we are all aware of that. Are you saying that his experience and blog cause harm to those people who have to do it? There's been countless posts about Amazon warehouse conditions on Hackernews and other news sources.

The takeaway is more that one of the contributing reasons the world is so dystopian is that people at the top literally have no awareness or understanding or what life is like at the bottom.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#147

Post by artylerzysta » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:19 PM UTC

I found physical work very relaxing for mind.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#148

Post by AlotOfReading » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:20 PM UTC

the_only_law wrote: post #110

AlotOfReading wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, I'd go back to being an archaeologist in a heartbeat. I like software, but the whole corporate thing gets old real fast.

Archeology sounds awesome, but I imagine it’s one of those highly academic fields where barely anyone makes it.

There's a surprisingly large number of jobs, but making even middle class income is difficult unless you're one of the dozens of people that get a staff job with the government or win the academic lottery and get a tenure track position.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#149

Post by NaturalPhallacy » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

lesuorac wrote: post #128

NaturalPhallacy wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. Sure it is, as soon as you realize employees are replaceable commodities that get used up like break pads. Sustainable for the individual? Obviously not. Sustainable for amazon. Of course, which is why it won't be changing.

It's not sustainable for amazon-ish [1]. They offer higher wages than competitors because they need to keep accumulating new employees or convincing old ones to come back. [1]: https://www.google.com/search?q=amazon+run+out+employees+to+...

8.1% inflation to Amazon's rescue! Just in time. Whew, that was a close one.

Re: From Burned Out Tech CEO to Amazon Warehouse Associate

#150

Post by Manuel_D » Mon, Oct 03, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

markdown wrote: post #59

avgDev wrote: post #9

"The experience was physically taxing, he was diagnosed with tendonitis after moving hundreds of boxes a day, but it pulled him out of his depression and helped him gain perspective and a deeper sense of meaning"....... I have mixed feelings about this. What this has proven is working at amazon warehouse sucks, and is not sustainable. I've had many physical shitty jobs in my 20's. Then, I had some health issue and co…

[flagged]

Better than destroying your body for no pay in a command economy.