Amazon says wage hike ‘more than compensates’ for loss of bonuses

Post by beat » Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 1:36 PM UTC

pixl97 wrote: post #75

pkaye wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automation doesn't work for everything. Like when the product being shipping is of varying size and shape. Like clothing, books, pouches all in one box. Or stacking the boxes in a truck. Or look at something like car assembly. Tesla still uses people to route wiring harnesses through the car body because robots can't do it well. Many simple things can get automated but there is still a lot not yet possible.

Why does it matter if automation doesn't work for everything. There is a particular breaking point in unskilled labor where doing enough means lots of unemployed with little chance of being reeducated for the necessary jobs the future demands.

So what are we going to do about it as a society? "More jobs" isn't the answer, I don't think. Maybe getting rid of "jobs" entirely is.

Post by beat » Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 1:47 PM UTC

cromwellian wrote: post #85

beat wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

200 years ago, 95% or more of the population was employed as farmers. Today, it's less than 3%. Somehow, we survived.

That replaced mostly manual labor with mostly manual labor. The millions of people involved in the horse industry supply chain, went to cities and they and their descendants worked in factories. A horse required a lot of non-mass-produced infrastructure to support, the feed, the shoes, the buggy, the saddle. There were millions employed in this industry. That was replaced by cars. And while industrial machines automa…

Yes, I'm well aware of all this, and thinking about it a lot. I don't think the 20th century "jobs" model will work for much longer. But I don't like the "We can't do anything, everyone is doomed" attitude, either. The transition from a farming economy to an industrial one wasn't just about new jobs. Our standard of living changed massively. We've gone from a world where 90% were illiterate and living in extreme poverty to one where 9% are illiterate and living in extreme poverty. We live in a world now where "not actually in poverty" represents near-universal access to wealth that didn't even exist for the richest people on earth - cars and planes, the internet, etc.

The next step, I think, is cheap universal energy, solar/wind + storage creating an energy supply that is cheaper and doesn't cause geopolitical resource conflicts. Near-free energy and near-free information is an extraordinary combination that makes amazing things possible.

Re: Amazon says wage hike ‘more than compensates’ for loss of bonuses

Re: Amazon says wage hike ‘more than compensates’ for loss of bonuses