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Skip the overly dramatic Orwellian outrage porn and go straight to the banal conclusion: >What became apparent over my time there was that, whatever the dramat

Skip the overly dramatic Orwellian outrage porn and go straight to the banal conclusion: >What became apparent over my time there was that, whatever the dramatisation of previous investigations, working at Amazon is just shit – but no more shit than any other mundane, badly-paid job.

roymurdock 11y ago
Also note that the article is written by a guy in the UK who is hired for seasonal warehouse work. Not a middle manager/higher salaried employee as was the case in the NYT article that sparked the outrage.
- darkerside 11y ago
  Also, at least part of the outrage needs to be directed at the hiring recruiting agency, not at Amazon itself.
  - harry8 11y ago
    Not really. The hiring recruiting agency is acting as an agent for amazon and amazon are completely and totally responsible for the actions of their agent. There is no "not us, our contractor" defence for this kind of thing.
- aaronharnly 11y ago
  Two different kinds of outrage – the warehouse employees being worked to the bone predated the white-collar outrage. Examples: * "I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave": http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-f... * "Brutal Conditions In Amazon's Warehouses Threaten To Ruin The Company's Image": http://www.businessinsider.com/brutal-conditions-in-amazons-warehouses-2013-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/brutal-conditions-in-amazons-... * "True Stories of Life as an Amazon Worker": http://gawker.com/true-stories-of-life-as-an-amazon-worker-1002568208 http://gawker.com/true-stories-of-life-as-an-amazon-worker-1... * "Inside Amazon's Warehouse": http://www.mcall.com/news/local/amazon/ http://www.mcall.com/news/local/amazon/
- auntienomen 11y ago
  You might have missed it, but there was a previous burst of outrage when Amazon's warehouse practices came to light.
- drzaiusapelord 11y ago
  >Also note that the article is written by a guy in the UK who is hired for seasonal warehouse work. Yeah, not to sound insensitive but those jobs suck by design. There's no pleasant warehouse job. Its backbreaking work, requires covering for those who called off so others get extra shifts, seasonal surges, etc. Work like that is a decade or two from being fully automated because its relatively simple and terrible dehumanizing work. The white collar work won't be replaced by machines, unless strong HAL-like AI is around the bend, and its pretty obvious its not. They also have a higher barrier to entry and are very desirable, so people are rightfully outraged to hear how poorly devs and sysadmins are treated at Amazon.
- serge2k 11y ago
  A few articles have been written about their fulfillment center conditions. Unlike the NYT claims about white collar workers, their treatment of fulfillment center workers is well documented. Ambulances instead of air conditioners when it was very hot. http://business.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11877532-after-protest-amazon-workers-finally-get-ac http://business.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11877532-after-... Getting sued (and winning, ugh) over forcing people to stand in line for 30+ minute security lines when coming and going from work. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-rules-amazon-doesnt-have-to-pay-for-after-hours-time-in-security-lines/2014/12/09/05c67c0c-7fb9-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-c... Battling the unions in Germany. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon-divergent.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon... and just random bonus articles http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/ http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_...

roymurdock 11y ago

Also note that the article is written by a guy in the UK who is hired for seasonal warehouse work. Not a middle manager/higher salaried employee as was the case in the NYT article that sparked the outrage.

darkerside 11y ago
Also, at least part of the outrage needs to be directed at the hiring recruiting agency, not at Amazon itself.
- harry8 11y ago
  Not really. The hiring recruiting agency is acting as an agent for amazon and amazon are completely and totally responsible for the actions of their agent. There is no "not us, our contractor" defence for this kind of thing.
aaronharnly 11y ago
Two different kinds of outrage – the warehouse employees being worked to the bone predated the white-collar outrage. Examples: * "I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave": http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-f... * "Brutal Conditions In Amazon's Warehouses Threaten To Ruin The Company's Image": http://www.businessinsider.com/brutal-conditions-in-amazons-warehouses-2013-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/brutal-conditions-in-amazons-... * "True Stories of Life as an Amazon Worker": http://gawker.com/true-stories-of-life-as-an-amazon-worker-1002568208 http://gawker.com/true-stories-of-life-as-an-amazon-worker-1... * "Inside Amazon's Warehouse": http://www.mcall.com/news/local/amazon/ http://www.mcall.com/news/local/amazon/
auntienomen 11y ago
You might have missed it, but there was a previous burst of outrage when Amazon's warehouse practices came to light.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
>Also note that the article is written by a guy in the UK who is hired for seasonal warehouse work. Yeah, not to sound insensitive but those jobs suck by design. There's no pleasant warehouse job. Its backbreaking work, requires covering for those who called off so others get extra shifts, seasonal surges, etc. Work like that is a decade or two from being fully automated because its relatively simple and terrible dehumanizing work. The white collar work won't be replaced by machines, unless strong HAL-like AI is around the bend, and its pretty obvious its not. They also have a higher barrier to entry and are very desirable, so people are rightfully outraged to hear how poorly devs and sysadmins are treated at Amazon.
serge2k 11y ago
A few articles have been written about their fulfillment center conditions. Unlike the NYT claims about white collar workers, their treatment of fulfillment center workers is well documented. Ambulances instead of air conditioners when it was very hot. http://business.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11877532-after-protest-amazon-workers-finally-get-ac http://business.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/25/11877532-after-... Getting sued (and winning, ugh) over forcing people to stand in line for 30+ minute security lines when coming and going from work. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-rules-amazon-doesnt-have-to-pay-for-after-hours-time-in-security-lines/2014/12/09/05c67c0c-7fb9-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-c... Battling the unions in Germany. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon-divergent.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/business/workers-of-amazon... and just random bonus articles http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/ http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_...