4 ms·

If a company cannot pay it's workers properly then, to be honest, it really shouldn't exist.

by fao_ 7y ago

icelancer 7y ago
People keep seeming to apply for jobs at Amazon warehouses making $15-16/hr, so...
- bad-joke 7y ago
  Hundreds of people applied to work at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
  - icelancer 7y ago
    Well, when Amazon warehouses in the United States are not up to code and burn to the ground, killing hundreds, the analogy will be pretty apt.
- bancars 7y ago
  Oh well it can’t be because they want to have a home or eat food or anything. No, they must’ve just run out of NodeJS consulting gigs and they’re looking to mix it up a bit.
- jodrellblank 7y ago
  so ... what? People keep turning up to work on third world garbage dumps for cents/day earnings, so...
zaksoup 7y ago
This so much. All of this analysis is predicated on the idea that Amazon has made this value for its owners through legitimate means and not by underpaying, overworking, and dehumanizing vast swathes of their workforce. It's so bizarre to me that people think it's a reasonable argument to make that "X company couldn't do Y if they payed better" and the response is just a giant shrug and "I guess their workers will have to pee in bottles and get second jobs" and not "X company therefor can't reasonable do Y"
- fao_ 7y ago
  You're getting downvoted but your point is bang on. I don't think people realise how horrible the conditions in Amazon's warehouses are. A year or so ago they hired ambulances to wait outside rather than turning the AC on in the warehouse. They would rather their workers risk death as opposed to paying money to cool them.
  - zaksoup 7y ago
    > They would rather their workers risk death as opposed to paying money to cool them. Or rather, it’s cheaper to hire EMTs than it is to climate-control fulfillment centers. Frankly, that seems like the strongest indictment of profit-as-sole-motive I’ve heard, but of course the HN thread can’t handle much in the way of criticizing capitalism or FAANG. Comments spreading FUD that some sort of deep tech attach of google is responsible for all the negative press get upvoted to the top when the simplest explanation is maybe tech isn’t the perfect good thing everybody wants to believe it is?
vecter 7y ago
Define "properly"
dmitrygr 7y ago
The places these warehouses are at usually have low CoL, and $15/hour is GREAT wage there. People line up to get jobs there!
marcusverus 7y ago
Reducing demand for labor to increase wages? What could go wrong?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

If a company cannot pay it's workers properly then, to be honest, it really shouldn't exist.

by fao_ 7y ago

If a company cannot pay it's workers properly then, to be honest, it really shouldn't exist.

icelancer 7y ago

People keep seeming to apply for jobs at Amazon warehouses making $15-16/hr, so...

bad-joke 7y ago
Hundreds of people applied to work at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
- icelancer 7y ago
  Well, when Amazon warehouses in the United States are not up to code and burn to the ground, killing hundreds, the analogy will be pretty apt.
bancars 7y ago
Oh well it can’t be because they want to have a home or eat food or anything. No, they must’ve just run out of NodeJS consulting gigs and they’re looking to mix it up a bit.
jodrellblank 7y ago
so ... what? People keep turning up to work on third world garbage dumps for cents/day earnings, so...

zaksoup 7y ago

This so much. All of this analysis is predicated on the idea that Amazon has made this value for its owners through legitimate means and not by underpaying, overworking, and dehumanizing vast swathes of their workforce. It's so bizarre to me that people think it's a reasonable argument to make that "X company couldn't do Y if they payed better" and the response is just a giant shrug and "I guess their workers will have to pee in bottles and get second jobs" and not "X company therefor can't reasonable do Y"

fao_ 7y ago
You're getting downvoted but your point is bang on. I don't think people realise how horrible the conditions in Amazon's warehouses are. A year or so ago they hired ambulances to wait outside rather than turning the AC on in the warehouse. They would rather their workers risk death as opposed to paying money to cool them.
- zaksoup 7y ago
  > They would rather their workers risk death as opposed to paying money to cool them. Or rather, it’s cheaper to hire EMTs than it is to climate-control fulfillment centers. Frankly, that seems like the strongest indictment of profit-as-sole-motive I’ve heard, but of course the HN thread can’t handle much in the way of criticizing capitalism or FAANG. Comments spreading FUD that some sort of deep tech attach of google is responsible for all the negative press get upvoted to the top when the simplest explanation is maybe tech isn’t the perfect good thing everybody wants to believe it is?

vecter 7y ago

Define "properly"

dmitrygr 7y ago

The places these warehouses are at usually have low CoL, and $15/hour is GREAT wage there. People line up to get jobs there!

marcusverus 7y ago

Reducing demand for labor to increase wages? What could go wrong?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]