3 ms·

You could't pay me enough to work in such a sweatshop. It's like Bezos read Karl Marx and figured people are stupid enough to exploit. And yes no matter the pay

You could't pay me enough to work in such a sweatshop. It's like Bezos read Karl Marx and figured people are stupid enough to exploit. And yes no matter the pay working people voluntarily as if they were slaves on plantation is still exploitation. Of course the article might be hyperbole and people venting but I don't doubt there is truth in it. 100 years ago titans such a Carnegie and Rockefeller worked people to death and didn't care as long as they made money. The only difference today might be more money. Sometimes. Amazon would never hire me anyway no matter my long skill set as I would never put up with such crap.

ForHackernews 11y ago
Is it reassuring that Amazon treats its white-collar office workers just as terribly as their blue-collar warehouse workers? http://gawker.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-are-treated-like-a-child-a-d-1651376061 http://gawker.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-are-treated-like-...
- serge2k 11y ago
  No, they don't. They treat the FC workers horribly on another level. Refusing to install air conditioning in a hot warehouse and just having ambulances outside instead. Having people wait in line 30 minutes coming and going and refusing to pay them for it.
  - makoz 11y ago
    Do you know of any distribution warehouses that have air conditioning?
    - Crito 11y ago
      No, the no-AC thing is old news, from when they were still mostly selling books. Books don't really mind the heat, so Amazon didn't give a shit. Now that their warehouses have a bunch of other shit in them too, to my knowledge, they all have AC.
potatolicious 11y ago
I worked at Amazon right out of college - I wouldn't do it again, but there's a reason why Amazon continues to hire a lot of people despite their growing (and already rather notorious) reputation as a workplace. Amazon is considered one of the big AAA-tier companies, at the same venerated level as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, et al. Having Amazon on my resume opened so many doors like you won't believe. I think a lot of people join Amazon knowing the toxic workplace culture out of necessity - our industry doesn't have a fucking clue how to hire people and leans heavily on "signals" like working for specific famous companies. As long as we continue to not be able to interview people effectively, and instead rely on things like "having worked at Amazon" as a positive hiring signal, the Amazon hiring machine will continue to function.
- gozo 11y ago
  When a friend relocated to London for a well-paying job to "move data around" at Google, I couldn't help to think how similar it seemed to banking. When I read you post about "paying your dues to be in the club" I think the same thing.
  - leoedin 11y ago
    Hey! Just a heads up - you seem to have been shadow banned. I'm not sure why - possibly posting a link to an article about the HN rules?
- enraged_camel 11y ago
  >>our industry doesn't have a fucking clue how to hire people The software industry isn't special in this regard. There are many industries where having a Harvard degree, for example, is a very strong "signal" that you're a top-tier individual.
  - acjohnson55 11y ago
    I'm curious what you think about a piece I published a couple days ago on the topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alanjohnson/were-hiring-engineers-all-wrong_b_7973484.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alanjohnson/were-hiring-engine... I'm not a great expert or anything, but it's basically my thoughts on engineering a better interviewing system than we had before.
kelukelugames 11y ago
I don't think Amazon pays well. I turned down an offer from Amazon recently. It was to work in an area that was nearest and closest to my heart. Unfortunately their offer was 50 to 100k behind other offers.
- nemtaro 11y ago
  Amazon does _not_ pay as well as Google/FB/Apple/Twitter/Netflix/LinkedIn/Salesforce/etc.
  - raverbashing 11y ago
    And at least for Google, their salaries, except for the top tier maybe cannot be considered as 'pays well'
    - chrisper 11y ago
      Really? Whenever I see people talking about Google they always say "pays really really well." Care to elaborate why you are saying that?
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - ams6110 11y ago
    Evidently they pay well enough to hire the talent they need.
    - rattray 11y ago
      They have 4,500 open positions in Seattle alone.
  - bethling 11y ago
    I don't know. When I made the decision to leave Amazon, my offers at Facebook and Apple were less than what I was making at Amazon. Google was only slightly more.
reitzensteinm 11y ago
No matter the pay? That's nuts. If you're on 200k you can save up and quit with a hell of a comfortable cushion. If you refuse to right size your life to be able to do that, you have nobody else but yourself to blame. If you're on 20k living paycheck to paycheck, doing so is impossible. I'm not normally of the persuasion to get all social justice-y, but I feel that there's a massive blind spot around here for the struggles of the poor, because the average user of this site can trivially get a high paying job (even if they choose not to). Some things, like death, sickness and love, hit the poor and the rich alike. Career trouble is not one of those things.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
savanaly 11y ago
>And yes no matter the pay working people voluntarily as if they were slaves on plantation is still exploitation. I don't follow this. I would certainly put up with a lot for one billion dollars per hour pay. I assume you would too. Would you really not take a job there for one billion dollars per hour? I know it's boring, but I think the simple calculation workers make of tallying salary vs working conditions still applies here.

ForHackernews 11y ago

Is it reassuring that Amazon treats its white-collar office workers just as terribly as their blue-collar warehouse workers? http://gawker.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-are-treated-like-a-child-a-d-1651376061 http://gawker.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-are-treated-like-...

serge2k 11y ago
No, they don't. They treat the FC workers horribly on another level. Refusing to install air conditioning in a hot warehouse and just having ambulances outside instead. Having people wait in line 30 minutes coming and going and refusing to pay them for it.
- makoz 11y ago
  Do you know of any distribution warehouses that have air conditioning?
  - Crito 11y ago
    No, the no-AC thing is old news, from when they were still mostly selling books. Books don't really mind the heat, so Amazon didn't give a shit. Now that their warehouses have a bunch of other shit in them too, to my knowledge, they all have AC.

potatolicious 11y ago

I worked at Amazon right out of college - I wouldn't do it again, but there's a reason why Amazon continues to hire a lot of people despite their growing (and already rather notorious) reputation as a workplace. Amazon is considered one of the big AAA-tier companies, at the same venerated level as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, et al. Having Amazon on my resume opened so many doors like you won't believe. I think a lot of people join Amazon knowing the toxic workplace culture out of necessity - our industry doesn't have a fucking clue how to hire people and leans heavily on "signals" like working for specific famous companies. As long as we continue to not be able to interview people effectively, and instead rely on things like "having worked at Amazon" as a positive hiring signal, the Amazon hiring machine will continue to function.

gozo 11y ago
When a friend relocated to London for a well-paying job to "move data around" at Google, I couldn't help to think how similar it seemed to banking. When I read you post about "paying your dues to be in the club" I think the same thing.
- leoedin 11y ago
  Hey! Just a heads up - you seem to have been shadow banned. I'm not sure why - possibly posting a link to an article about the HN rules?
enraged_camel 11y ago
>>our industry doesn't have a fucking clue how to hire people The software industry isn't special in this regard. There are many industries where having a Harvard degree, for example, is a very strong "signal" that you're a top-tier individual.
- acjohnson55 11y ago
  I'm curious what you think about a piece I published a couple days ago on the topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alanjohnson/were-hiring-engineers-all-wrong_b_7973484.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alanjohnson/were-hiring-engine... I'm not a great expert or anything, but it's basically my thoughts on engineering a better interviewing system than we had before.

kelukelugames 11y ago

I don't think Amazon pays well. I turned down an offer from Amazon recently. It was to work in an area that was nearest and closest to my heart. Unfortunately their offer was 50 to 100k behind other offers.

nemtaro 11y ago
Amazon does _not_ pay as well as Google/FB/Apple/Twitter/Netflix/LinkedIn/Salesforce/etc.
- raverbashing 11y ago
  And at least for Google, their salaries, except for the top tier maybe cannot be considered as 'pays well'
  - chrisper 11y ago
    Really? Whenever I see people talking about Google they always say "pays really really well." Care to elaborate why you are saying that?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- ams6110 11y ago
  Evidently they pay well enough to hire the talent they need.
  - rattray 11y ago
    They have 4,500 open positions in Seattle alone.
- bethling 11y ago
  I don't know. When I made the decision to leave Amazon, my offers at Facebook and Apple were less than what I was making at Amazon. Google was only slightly more.

reitzensteinm 11y ago

No matter the pay? That's nuts. If you're on 200k you can save up and quit with a hell of a comfortable cushion. If you refuse to right size your life to be able to do that, you have nobody else but yourself to blame. If you're on 20k living paycheck to paycheck, doing so is impossible. I'm not normally of the persuasion to get all social justice-y, but I feel that there's a massive blind spot around here for the struggles of the poor, because the average user of this site can trivially get a high paying job (even if they choose not to). Some things, like death, sickness and love, hit the poor and the rich alike. Career trouble is not one of those things.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

savanaly 11y ago

>And yes no matter the pay working people voluntarily as if they were slaves on plantation is still exploitation. I don't follow this. I would certainly put up with a lot for one billion dollars per hour pay. I assume you would too. Would you really not take a job there for one billion dollars per hour? I know it's boring, but I think the simple calculation workers make of tallying salary vs working conditions still applies here.