Amazon apparently treats its employees really badly

[mikeymikec]

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/wor...t_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/

I buy a heck of a lot from Amazon with a Prime account. I think I'll start defaulting to UK suppliers in future. It's a shame because the one thing that Amazon got right (at least for me) is that if they said an item was going to arrive by a certain day, it did. My other UK suppliers have a really annoying habit of saying that something is in stock, then wait about an hour before the 'order by now for next day delivery' deadline and drop an e-mail saying an item is out of stock, therefore the whole order will be delayed. 90% of the time I'm AFK when the e-mail arrives.

I had heard stuff like (some of what the article mentions) this before, but I had the impression that it was a single warehouse being run in a dodgy manner, I had no idea that it was basically general policy. Admittedly I had been surprised in the past that stuff I had ordered pretty late in the day (after 6pm for example) arrived the next day.

 

[lxskllr]

You can't make money from nothing. If someone is cheaper than everyone else, the money comes from lower quality parts, or lower paid employees.

 

[mikeymikec]

You can't make money from nothing. If someone is cheaper than everyone else, the money comes from lower quality parts, or lower paid employees.

I think that's a gross over-simplification of the situation. IMO, it also encourages people to think that what Amazon apparently does (or an equally unscrupulous manufacturer), will happen no matter whom they choose.

 

[lxskllr]

I think that's a gross over-simplification of the situation. IMO, it also encourages people to think that what Amazon apparently does (or an equally unscrupulous manufacturer), will happen no matter whom they choose.

I'm not willing to write a treatise on the subject, but I think it's close enough. Lower priced shops will tend to have lower paid, and poorly treated employees. The way to fix it is to buy locally, and support your neighbor rather than supporting global corporations. That requires sacrifices on your part. Everybody cries for the government to "do something", and rails against the "evil corporations", all the while supporting those corporations with their dollars. You can't have it both ways. If you want to make a difference, and and make ethical choices with your money, it's gonna cost you.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

In a competitive field where overhead is high and margins are slim Amazon has the unmitigated gall to expect certain performance standards from employees and might get rid of the people who are not good at their job? The horror, the horror!

 

[jpiniero]

In a competitive field where overhead is high and margins are slim Amazon has the unmitigated gall to expect certain performance standards from employees and might get rid of the people who are not good at their job? The horror, the horror!

That's Salon for you. Besides, it's only temporary until they get the robots up and running.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I'm not willing to write a treatise on the subject, but I think it's close enough. Lower priced shops will tend to have lower paid, and poorly treated employees. The way to fix it is to buy locally, and support your neighbor rather than supporting global corporations. That requires sacrifices on your part. Everybody cries for the government to "do something", and rails against the "evil corporations", all the while supporting those corporations with their dollars. You can't have it both ways. If you want to make a difference, and and make ethical choices with your money, it's gonna cost you.

Hmm, so you are suggesting I should have paid $600 more for my Xmas camera in order to support Amazon's brutalized employees? How original!

So we move the brutalization from the employee to the customer. Oh yes, win-win for the store owners. But it is a lose for either the employee, customer or both.

 

[lxskllr]

Hmm, so you are suggesting I should have paid $600 more for my Xmas camera in order to support Amazon's brutalized employees? How original!

So we move the brutalization from the employee to the customer. Oh yes, win-win for the store owners. But it is a lose for either the employee, customer or both.

I guess you pulled that figure($600) from your ass, right? You looked at every shop, but Amazon was $600 cheaper?! Either that's a fuckin' miracle, or you didn't get the camera you thought you did. I'd expect to pay a ~20% premium to a shop that that makes quality products, and treats its employees well. If that's being "brutalized" you're living on the margins, and should be buying canned goods, and not cameras.

 

[mikeymikec]

In a competitive field where overhead is high and margins are slim Amazon has the unmitigated gall to expect certain performance standards from employees and might get rid of the people who are not good at their job? The horror, the horror!

Did you read the article? Specifically the bit where ambulances were stationed outside one of their warehouses?

 

[mcveigh]

That's Salon for you. Besides, it's only temporary until they get the robots up and running.

this is so true...

 

[mikeymikec]

this is so true...

Then management will be complaining that the over-worked engineers aren't fixing the over-worked robots quickly enough.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Did you read the article? Specifically the bit where ambulances were stationed outside one of their warehouses?

I read of one facility being badly operated fora short period and I read about OSHA smacking them down very quickly. I did not read about that being a pervasive part of the Amazon work environment and I did not read about it having been repeated anywhere else or of happening again at that facility. Did you read something different?

Mostly what I read was "boo hoo!! we have to work instead of goof off" sob stories from employees. Any worker that is not capable of handling his/her job and that can't reach the same productivity of other employees SHOULD be replaced. That's how businesses get better, by replacing weak workers with better ones. Are you suggesting that once a business hires someone they should be stuck with that person eternally even if they under-perform?

 

[13Gigatons]

Amazon is all about low paid temp workers and of overpaid executives.

PS: Still have not bought anything from them.

 

[lxskllr]

Mostly what I read was "boo hoo!! we have to work instead of goof off" sob stories from employees. Any worker that is not capable of handling his/her job and that can't reach the same productivity of other employees SHOULD be replaced. That's how businesses get better, by replacing weak workers with better ones. Are you suggesting that once a business hires someone they should be stuck with that person eternally even if they under-perform?

Really? What I read is Amazon wants more work for the same price. If you want elite workers, you should expect to pay elite wages. I'd pay $20 to see what your work day looks like. I'm sure you're going at 100%, 12 hours per day like the rest of the ATOT 1337s. I wonder where all posts come from here? Now that's a fuckin' mystery...

 

[mikeymikec]

Mostly what I read was "boo hoo!! we have to work instead of goof off" sob stories from employees.

Which you inferred from what exactly?

All this information is available to management in real time, and if an employee is behind schedule she will receive a text message pointing this out and telling her to reach her targets or suffer the consequences. At Amazon’s depot in Allentown, Pennsylvania (of which more later), Kate Salasky worked shifts of up to eleven hours a day, mostly spent walking the length and breadth of the warehouse. In March 2011 she received a warning message from her manager, saying that she had been found unproductive during several minutes of her shift, and she was eventually fired. This employee tagging is now in operation at Amazon centers worldwide.

Not several minutes? I'm wondering whether all the people who work for Amazon (inc. managers, senior management), can claim the same level of attentiveness to their work, or how many people here.

 

[13Gigatons]

Mostly what I read was "boo hoo!! we have to work instead of goof off" sob stories from employees. Any worker that is not capable of handling his/her job and that can't reach the same productivity of other employees SHOULD be replaced. That's how businesses get better, by replacing weak workers with better ones. Are you suggesting that once a business hires someone they should be stuck with that person eternally even if they under-perform?

The cruel trick of Amazon is too keep raising the bar until you fail. They don't want permanent workers.

 

[jpiniero]

TBF, Amazon is pretty notorious for working all their employees hard, from the warehouse worker up to Bezos himself.

 

[smitbret]

I'm shocked that anyone is shocked by this.

As the middle class continues to disappear and the divide between upper and lower class continues to grow, these stories will get more and more common.

I hate to say it, and I REALLY hate to say it, but I see a revival of the labor unions in this country and it's going to be sooner rather than later.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm shocked that anyone is shocked by this.

Shocked as in surprised that anything like this could ever happen (I'm not), or shocked as in "I can't believe they worked people until they collapsed of heat exhaustion, that's wrong"?

 

[waggy]

I'm not willing to write a treatise on the subject, but I think it's close enough. Lower priced shops will tend to have lower paid, and poorly treated employees. The way to fix it is to buy locally, and support your neighbor rather than supporting global corporations. That requires sacrifices on your part. Everybody cries for the government to "do something", and rails against the "evil corporations", all the while supporting those corporations with their dollars. You can't have it both ways. If you want to make a difference, and and make ethical choices with your money, it's gonna cost you.

Why should i support local stores when they have far higher prices, shitty CS and horrible return policy's? only thing the i admit they have over stores like BB is they actually know the products.

then you are under the impression that local places pay more or have better benefits. this is not true.

 

[waggy]

I'm shocked that anyone is shocked by this.

As the middle class continues to disappear and the divide between upper and lower class continues to grow, these stories will get more and more common.

I hate to say it, and I REALLY hate to say it, but I see a revival of the labor unions in this country and it's going to be sooner rather than later.

doubt it. Unions can't fix this. not to mention they are hugely currupt also.

it's going to take a "grass roots" type of movement or the govenment giving "made in the USA" a huge tax break.

 

[Nintendesert]

The real assault on the middle class is coming from Google and Amazon in the forms of automation. If we thought it was bad before, just read through some of the plans they have for automating even upper middle class jobs and not just menial labortype jobs.

Who the hell is going to buy from these companies if there are no jobs to occupy?

 

[Muse]

Hmm, so you are suggesting I should have paid $600 more for my Xmas camera in order to support Amazon's brutalized employees?

An efficient company does not brutalize it's employees. This is not the age of slavery. It's not going to be luxurious working for the cheapest retailer, however.

I know about sweat shops making clothes in Asia. I'm not cavalier about my clothing purchases.

I've ordered a whole lot of stuff from Amazon, not much from Walmart, almost nothing, but the last Walmart order I received was ridiculous. Whoever was responsible must have been in a rage. I didn't call them. I have called Amazon a few times when things didn't work out and always been treated well IIRC.

Why should i support local stores when they have far higher prices, shitty CS and horrible return policy's? only thing the i admit they have over stores like BB is they actually know the products.

then you are under the impression that local places pay more or have better benefits. this is not true.

I've been finding a lot of the time that the local stores don't even have the merchandise I'm interested in. I often buy sight unseen, but I do my homework first. I can usually find out what I need to know without leaving the house.

 

[waggy]

The real assault on the middle class is coming from Google and Amazon in the forms of automation. If we thought it was bad before, just read through some of the plans they have for automating even upper middle class jobs and not just menial labortype jobs.

Who the hell is going to buy from these companies if there are no jobs to occupy?

I think the main thing killing middle class is the push from blue collar jobs to white collar jobs. Today kids are told they need a college education to get a desk job to be a success.

we have gotten away from trade schools. I read one article in that we are in a major shortage of contractors, electricians, adn plumbers.

 

[lxskllr]

Why should i support local stores when they have far higher prices, shitty CS and horrible return policy's? only thing the i admit they have over stores like BB is they actually know the products.

then you are under the impression that local places pay more or have better benefits. this is not true.

Locals around here are only slightly higher in price, and the glacial turnover rate speaks for employee happiness.

You first say they have shitty cs, then in the next sentence say they know what they're doing. Which is it? IME, their knowledge(which is what cs is) is adequate at worst, and usually pretty damned good.

I've never had an issue with returns in my life, but I've been jerked around by online retailers. Maybe not Amazon, but given a choice without knowing who I'm dealing with, I'll buy offline every time.