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That's for their employees to worry about. They're not helpless - they're software developers with high demand.

coldtea 10y ago
People get into abusive contracts and stay with them for all shorts of reasons. Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. They are physically able to go to the police, break the relationship, fight back, etc, but human needs and psychology are not black and white. And of course just because they decided to "put up with it" or the extra compensation makes it justified for them, doesn't mean the abuse isn't there. If someone gives a huge tip, it doesn't mean it's OK for them to mistreat the waiter. It just makes them more of a jerk.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. Comparing Amazon employees to battered spouses is a stretch. Some might even say it's ignorant.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    All metaphors are a stretch. If they were absolutely analogous to the original there wouldn't be metaphors in the first place. Something doesn't have to be of equal value or importance to the thing its a metaphor for, just to convey the mechanics of the thing. It doesn't even have to convey the full thing, just the part the metaphor is intended for. In other words, one can use e.g. the Cold War as a metaphor for some office turf situation, even if the Cold War has millions of victims in proxy wars and could potentially have meant the end of the world, whereas office politics are much more inconsequential.
- dismantlethesun 10y ago
  Does Amazon have contracts that tie people to their jobs? Can't people simply leave at will? > Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. This is a good comparison actually. Many people continue to work for an employer long after the good times have passed, because they feel loyalty towards them or don't want to admit to making a poor decision in the past, or there is social stigma against leaving. That said... Amazon is well reknowned for having poor workplace practices, so anyone joining them today should be going in with their eyes wide open, and stigma against leaving Amazon ought to be widely lowered.
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    > Can't people simply leave at will? Im actually not sure how this interacts with visas -- can visa employees freely leave without having to leave the country as well? It's anecdata, but when I interviewed with Amazon, not a single person born in the US interviewed me. (Which seems suspicious, that none of 7 people were from the US.) I've suspected that tech companies use visas to permit such toxic practices because foreign workers don't have the same negotiating position.

People get into abusive contracts and stay with them for all shorts of reasons. Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. They are physically able to go to the police, break the relationship, fight back, etc, but human needs and psychology are not black and white. And of course just because they decided to "put up with it" or the extra compensation makes it justified for them, doesn't mean the abuse isn't there. If someone gives a huge tip, it doesn't mean it's OK for them to mistreat the waiter. It just makes them more of a jerk.

forgetsusername 10y ago
>Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. Comparing Amazon employees to battered spouses is a stretch. Some might even say it's ignorant.
- coldtea 10y ago
  All metaphors are a stretch. If they were absolutely analogous to the original there wouldn't be metaphors in the first place. Something doesn't have to be of equal value or importance to the thing its a metaphor for, just to convey the mechanics of the thing. It doesn't even have to convey the full thing, just the part the metaphor is intended for. In other words, one can use e.g. the Cold War as a metaphor for some office turf situation, even if the Cold War has millions of victims in proxy wars and could potentially have meant the end of the world, whereas office politics are much more inconsequential.
dismantlethesun 10y ago
Does Amazon have contracts that tie people to their jobs? Can't people simply leave at will? > Most abused spouses are not literally helpless either. This is a good comparison actually. Many people continue to work for an employer long after the good times have passed, because they feel loyalty towards them or don't want to admit to making a poor decision in the past, or there is social stigma against leaving. That said... Amazon is well reknowned for having poor workplace practices, so anyone joining them today should be going in with their eyes wide open, and stigma against leaving Amazon ought to be widely lowered.
- SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
  > Can't people simply leave at will? Im actually not sure how this interacts with visas -- can visa employees freely leave without having to leave the country as well? It's anecdata, but when I interviewed with Amazon, not a single person born in the US interviewed me. (Which seems suspicious, that none of 7 people were from the US.) I've suspected that tech companies use visas to permit such toxic practices because foreign workers don't have the same negotiating position.