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90% of these jobs will be at or very close to minimum wage. The company might also figure out a clever way to use independent contractors so they are paid less

90% of these jobs will be at or very close to minimum wage. The company might also figure out a clever way to use independent contractors so they are paid less than minimum wage.

rayvd 10y ago
And then they'll send out their slave raiding parties to compel people to work for them.
chedabob 10y ago
> independent contractors so they are paid less than minimum wage. That is exactly what they do in the UK. Deliveries are outsourced to other companies (but still under the Amazon Delivery Network brand). Those companies then hire people as contractors, pay them close to minimum wage, but use every trick possible to ensure they see as little of that as possible (i.e. pay reductions when aggressive delivery targets are not met, charging extortionate rates for vehicle hire and insurance). http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/amazon-inside-out http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/amazon-insi...
leeoniya 10y ago
i was just about to say this. headline can also be "Amazon plans to hire 100,000 below minimum wage workers in light of relaxed labor laws"
- __abc 10y ago
  For a lot of people, this will be an amazing opportunity and dramatically improve their life. Not saying it couldn't be better, or the timing isn't suspect in regards to maximizing PR, but don't forget the humans this will positively impact.
  - ktsmith 10y ago
    How so? Many of these workers will likely be coming from similar jobs in the retail space where Amazon's increased presence is simply displacing them. When workers are paid at or below the minimum wage they often have to rely on government subsidies to make ends meet. The article even points some of this out.
- rch 10y ago
  How about: First Growth in U.S. Company-Town Living Since WWII
mabbo 10y ago
Do you have any numbers on what you mean by 'close to minimum wage'? Quick Googling shows that Amazon pays fulfillment associates $12-13/hour starting, which is much higher than the US minimum wage of $7.25. The more important factor is competition. If Amazon hires 10 people, you can bet tradition retail needed at least 11 to do the same amount of work. If Amazon is undercutting them, those businesses will die off, and 11 people will be out of work. If Amazon wants to hire 100,000 logistics/fulfillment employees, you can bet there's more than 100,000 people who will be out of work elsewhere. Bias note: I spent 5 years making software for Amazon's logistics division.
- sbassi 10y ago
  "fulfillment associates", aren't they employees?
  - mabbo 10y ago
    Yes. Their job title is traditionally fulfillment associate, like mine was SDE.
- ThrustVectoring 10y ago
  >If Amazon is undercutting them That's the actually important question. If Amazon is convincing people that delivery service is worth paying a premium for, that's a new product/service that the economy is producing and employing people for, and is itself economic growth. If Amazon is instead more efficient and competing on price, then they're only freeing up the ability for the displaced to do productive economic work elsewhere in the economy.
  - mabbo 10y ago
    Bezos's famous quotation: "Your margin is my opportunity". They'll alway undercut the competition if they can.
jefurii 10y ago
So basically these are not jobs, they are "jobs".
plandis 10y ago
The first sentence of the article clearly states the intent is to add 100,000 full time positions, wth benefits. That doesn't sound like contract work to me.
Fnoord 10y ago
> 90% of these jobs will be at or very close to minimum wage. Or under minimum wage: Amazon Mechanical Turk [1]. Which is below the minimum wage of a lot of countries (at the very least the entire Western world as we know it) [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_count...

90% of these jobs will be at or very close to minimum wage. The company might also figure out a clever way to use independent contractors so they are paid less than minimum wage.

rayvd 10y ago

And then they'll send out their slave raiding parties to compel people to work for them.

chedabob 10y ago

> independent contractors so they are paid less than minimum wage. That is exactly what they do in the UK. Deliveries are outsourced to other companies (but still under the Amazon Delivery Network brand). Those companies then hire people as contractors, pay them close to minimum wage, but use every trick possible to ensure they see as little of that as possible (i.e. pay reductions when aggressive delivery targets are not met, charging extortionate rates for vehicle hire and insurance). http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/amazon-inside-out http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/amazon-insi...

leeoniya 10y ago

i was just about to say this. headline can also be "Amazon plans to hire 100,000 below minimum wage workers in light of relaxed labor laws"

__abc 10y ago
For a lot of people, this will be an amazing opportunity and dramatically improve their life. Not saying it couldn't be better, or the timing isn't suspect in regards to maximizing PR, but don't forget the humans this will positively impact.
- ktsmith 10y ago
  How so? Many of these workers will likely be coming from similar jobs in the retail space where Amazon's increased presence is simply displacing them. When workers are paid at or below the minimum wage they often have to rely on government subsidies to make ends meet. The article even points some of this out.
rch 10y ago
How about: First Growth in U.S. Company-Town Living Since WWII

mabbo 10y ago

Do you have any numbers on what you mean by 'close to minimum wage'? Quick Googling shows that Amazon pays fulfillment associates $12-13/hour starting, which is much higher than the US minimum wage of $7.25. The more important factor is competition. If Amazon hires 10 people, you can bet tradition retail needed at least 11 to do the same amount of work. If Amazon is undercutting them, those businesses will die off, and 11 people will be out of work. If Amazon wants to hire 100,000 logistics/fulfillment employees, you can bet there's more than 100,000 people who will be out of work elsewhere. Bias note: I spent 5 years making software for Amazon's logistics division.

sbassi 10y ago
"fulfillment associates", aren't they employees?
- mabbo 10y ago
  Yes. Their job title is traditionally fulfillment associate, like mine was SDE.
ThrustVectoring 10y ago
>If Amazon is undercutting them That's the actually important question. If Amazon is convincing people that delivery service is worth paying a premium for, that's a new product/service that the economy is producing and employing people for, and is itself economic growth. If Amazon is instead more efficient and competing on price, then they're only freeing up the ability for the displaced to do productive economic work elsewhere in the economy.
- mabbo 10y ago
  Bezos's famous quotation: "Your margin is my opportunity". They'll alway undercut the competition if they can.

jefurii 10y ago

So basically these are not jobs, they are "jobs".

plandis 10y ago

The first sentence of the article clearly states the intent is to add 100,000 full time positions, wth benefits. That doesn't sound like contract work to me.

Fnoord 10y ago

> 90% of these jobs will be at or very close to minimum wage. Or under minimum wage: Amazon Mechanical Turk [1]. Which is below the minimum wage of a lot of countries (at the very least the entire Western world as we know it) [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_wages_by_count...