Are All Big Companies Jerks? Amazon.

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
I just finished reading Nomadland. The Camper Force workers who go and work at these Amazon distribution centers seemed to be working a horrible job. They hire these people during the high ordering time before the holidays. The thing is, are all companies jerks? I don't know.

Amazon doesn't seem like a good place to work. I do order from them, mainly books but I've thought again about ordering. I work with people who order many things from them. Even one lady said pen refills. Some people just seem to go there for everything. I don't. But then I prefer to buy as much as possible from thrift stores. Now also looking for books more second hand.
 

Remy said:
I just finished reading Nomadland. The Camper Force workers who go and work at these Amazon distribution centers seemed to be working a horrible job. They hire these people during the high ordering time before the holidays. The thing is, are all companies jerks? I don't know.

Amazon doesn't seem like a good place to work. I do order from them, mainly books but I've thought again about ordering. I work with people who order many things from them. Even one lady said pen refills. Some people just seem to go there for everything. I don't. But then I prefer to buy as much as possible from thrift stores. Now also looking for books more second hand.
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The only type of company that (IMHO) wouldn't be jerks would be one where ALL the employees would have their fair share to the investments and profits of it (A CoOp if you like). Other than that (and since profit is the target of any for-profit company) human exploitation is inevitable.
 
CAKCy said:
The only type of company that (IMHO) wouldn't be jerks would be one where ALL the employees would have their fair share to the investments and profits of it (A CoOp if you like). Other than that (and since profit is the target of any for-profit company) human exploitation is inevitable.
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I can't disagree. I understand a company wants to make money but sometimes it moves into pure greed. Or maybe always in most cases.
 

Remy said:
I can't disagree. I understand a company wants to make money but sometimes it moves into pure greed. Or maybe always in most cases.
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I would go with the "always" option. The only companies I've seen being "kind of decent" are small family owned companies that treat their employees as family (almost). Salary increases, bonuses etc. is a usual phenomenon in companies like that.
 
Knight said:
No one is forced to apply for and get a temp job at Amazon during the high ordering time before the holidays. What the job entails is a choice to do or not.
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"No one" is pretty relative... A parent with children to feed and finding no other job, is actually pretty much forced to get ANY job available... And that's what Amazon counts on to give salaries that low....
 
You can love a corporation but a corporation can’t love you back.

It’s just business.

In my experience if you don’t have much to offer you can’t expect much in return.

IMO it’s unfair to expect a company, the government, or your parents to subsidize your life and solve your problems.

Stay in school, get some advanced education/training and some experience.

Take responsibility for your choices.

You’ll feel better about yourself and in almost every case your life will improve if you stick with it and figure things out for yourself.

If you doubt this then spend some time talking to the old folks in your life about their own struggles to make a life for themselves and their families.

Rant over!
 
Aunt Bea said:
You can love a corporation but a corporation can’t love you back.

It’s just business.

In my experience if you don’t have much to offer you can’t expect much in return.

IMO it’s unfair to expect a company, the government, or your parents to subsidize your life and solve your problems.

Stay in school, get some advanced education/training and some experience.

Take responsibility for your choices.

You’ll feel better about yourself and in almost every case your life will improve if you stick with it and figure things out for yourself.

If you doubt this then spend some time talking to the old folks in your life about their own struggles to make a life for themselves and their families.

Rant over!
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I don't disagree with what you say BUT...

not everybody has the skills/talents/motivation to become Gates/Musk/Bezos.... The majority will end up being employees somewhere exploited by the ones having the money to make more money.
 
Remy said:
I just finished reading Nomadland. The Camper Force workers who go and work at these Amazon distribution centers seemed to be working a horrible job. They hire these people during the high ordering time before the holidays. The thing is, are all companies jerks? I don't know.

Amazon doesn't seem like a good place to work. I do order from them, mainly books but I've thought again about ordering. I work with people who order many things from them. Even one lady said pen refills. Some people just seem to go there for everything. I don't. But then I prefer to buy as much as possible from thrift stores. Now also looking for books more second hand.
Click to expand...
I agree with your views here! I find that it is difficult to avoid Amazon for shopping, even if you are trying to. For example, I made a purchase from a medical supply company, only find that I had actually purchased from an Amazon affiliate. I really do like to support other businesses, especially smaller concerns, but you have to do your homework or you may still be shopping at Amazon without realizing it.
 
CAKCy said:
"No one" is pretty relative... A parent with children to feed and finding no other job, is actually pretty much forced to get ANY job available... And that's what Amazon counts on to give salaries that low....
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I was responding to the op's post where it was about

Quote
The Camper Force workers who go and work at these Amazon distribution centers seemed to be working a horrible job.

A horrible job if that is what the camper force people consider it to be or no job when there is a choice. As I posted no one is forced to work at Amazon.

As for the other

A parent with children to feed and finding no other job, is actually pretty much forced to get ANY job available...


https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Amazon.com_Inc/Hourly_Rate
$16.92 / hour
Avg. Base Hourly Rate (USD)

$16k
Avg. Bonus

When complaining about what employers pay. I'd feel a whole lot better about a complaint if it could be proven the complainer is an employer paying above average wages & benefits.
 
Aunt Bea said:
You can love a corporation but a corporation can’t love you back.

It’s just business.

In my experience if you don’t have much to offer you can’t expect much in return.

IMO it’s unfair to expect a company, the government, or your parents to subsidize your life and solve your problems.

Stay in school, get some advanced education/training and some experience.

Take responsibility for your choices.

You’ll feel better about yourself and in almost every case your life will improve if you stick with it and figure things out for yourself.

If you doubt this then spend some time talking to the old folks in your life about their own struggles to make a life for themselves and their families.

Rant over!
Click to expand...
So many things to disagree with here. Not everyone has the same experiences and start in life.
 
CAKCy said:
I don't disagree with what you say BUT...

not everybody has the skills/talents/motivation to become Gates/Musk/Bezos.... The majority will end up being employees somewhere exploited by the ones having the money to make more money.
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True. Even those with an advanced education. An MD can be run by insurance companies.

An abused child or one raised in poor foster care will not reach 18, state 'wow, I can do anything now!' They will likely be beaten down, self esteem destroyed, no confidence. It may take them years, if ever to recover. I'm convinced many of them are in our prisons.

They sure didn't make the choice to live the childhood they did.

This isn't the way I wanted the thread to go but I suspected it might.
 
Knight said:
I was responding to the op's post where it was about

Quote
The Camper Force workers who go and work at these Amazon distribution centers seemed to be working a horrible job.

A horrible job if that is what the camper force people consider it to be or no job when there is a choice. As I posted no one is forced to work at Amazon.

As for the other

A parent with children to feed and finding no other job, is actually pretty much forced to get ANY job available...


https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Amazon.com_Inc/Hourly_Rate
$16.92 / hour
Avg. Base Hourly Rate (USD)

$16k
Avg. Bonus

When complaining about what employers pay. I'd feel a whole lot better about a complaint if it could be proven the complainer is an employer paying above average wages & benefits.
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to know who is included in that "average". I mean if that includes the CEO or the upper management that's misleading.
 
hollydolly said:
At Amazon uk.. there's a whole list on this link of Jobs at their depots...

All have varying pay rates ..anywhere from minimum wage just over £8..00 to almost £17 per hour

https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Employer=Amazon.com_Inc/Hourly_Rate
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The question is: How many workers do they need/hire and how many supervisors. I would guess one supervisor would supervise many workers. Which means that the true average is £8 skewed to the right by the salary of the few supervisors.
 
No corporation wants to "overpay" its workforce. And corporations are not created for the welfare of its employees. I don't think a temp Xmas job is a job that is going to pay for a new house, new car, send the kids to college, and provide for your retirement . Nobody is forcing anyone to work at a huge corporation, but if you agree, I believe there should be a livable minimum wage.
 
CAKCy said:
The question is: How many workers do they need/hire and how many supervisors. I would guess one supervisor would supervise many workers. Which means that the true average is £8 skewed to the right by the salary of the few supervisors.
Click to expand...
they'll all be sorry when everything becomes automated and a handful of supervisors will be watching over 100 robots.... no money coming in then.. how will people manage then ..if they can't manage to feed themselves now ?

I was watching a documentary on the 'poor'' in the UK.. they all had big screen Tv's.. Computer games.. fake tans, nail and hair extensions... and were smoking cigarettes ( hugely expensive here).. yet then going to the food bank to feed themselves and their kids..

My granny brought up 9 kids on only my granddads wages.... no-one expected other people to donate food to them, because they'd spent their wages on luxuries before feeding and clothing their kids ... and nowadays it's the taxpayers money which is paid in benefits ( basically a wage for not working) .. and us also who fill up the foodbank donation boxes at the supermarkets... so for everyone who doesn't want to work.. there's no incentive for them to actually go to work while everyone else is paying their way...

...anyhooo.. I must be quiet , dangerously wandering into political no mans' land here...
 
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CAKCy said:
It would be interesting to know who is included in that "average". I mean if that includes the CEO or the upper management that's misleading.
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Normally CEO & upper management are salaried. Average hourly wouldn't apply to them.
 
Amazon workers get a minimum of $15/hour plus health insurance and paid tuition if they want to go to college. I think there are some other benefits as well. That sounds like a pretty good job for someone fresh out of high school. They can do mindless work at Amazon for part of the day and then attend college without having to go deep into debt. It's called paying your dues and sounds like a good option if your parents doesn't have money for tuition.

For someone who is older and never bothered to acquire any marketable skills and just wants to collect a paycheck, working at Amazon may not be too pleasant. You're working from the time you punch in until the time you punch out, with just a few breaks in between. That's what factory work is like. Construction work, also, but with construction work, you're doing tough physical work all day, which isn't a good fit for a lot of people. There's always fast food work, which seems to pay about the same as Amazon (around here, anyway) but people who don't like to work probably wouldn't like that either.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
No corporation wants to "overpay" its workforce. And corporations are not created for the welfare of its employees. I don't think a temp Xmas job is a job that is going to pay for a new house, new car, send the kids to college, and provide for your retirement . Nobody is forcing anyone to work at a huge corporation, but if you agree, I believe there should be a livable minimum wage.
Click to expand...
Staying with the ops post of
Quote
They hire these people during the high ordering time before the holidays.

Those people being camper force workers. Not knowing what camper force workers are I looked it up.

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-camperforce-amazons-nomadic-retiree-army/

May not be what all are but this couple seems really happy with their lifestyle now.

Since this is about people looking for & accepting a job that is temporary, a thread about earning money could be interesting.
 
Irwin said:
Amazon workers get a minimum of $15/hour plus health insurance and paid tuition if they want to go to college. I think there are some other benefits as well. That sounds like a pretty good job for someone fresh out of high school. They can do mindless work at Amazon for part of the day and then attend college without having to go deep into debt. It's called paying your dues and sounds like a good option if your parents doesn't have money for tuition.

For someone who is older and never bothered to acquire any marketable skills and just wants to collect a paycheck, working at Amazon may not be too pleasant. You're working from the time you punch in until the time you punch out, with just a few breaks in between. That's what factory work is like. Construction work, also, but with construction work, you're doing tough physical work all day, which isn't a good fit for a lot of people. There's always fast food work, which seems to pay about the same as Amazon (around here, anyway) but people who don't like to work probably wouldn't like that either.
Click to expand...

If the numbers you cite here and the benefits are exact for a starting employee then it's a decent deal.
 
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