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From September 2020 I had to work at an Amazon Warehouse in the UK. Nightshift. Our shifts were 4 x 10.5 with two 30 mins breaks (which you only got paid for o

From September 2020 I had to work at an Amazon Warehouse in the UK. Nightshift. Our shifts were 4 x 10.5 with two 30 mins breaks (which you only got paid for one!) It was absolute shite and the toughest job I've ever done but, hey, I kept my roof over my head. It's not nice but unfortunately when you don't have a job and prospects suck then they hold all the cards :(

sthnblllII 6y ago
Thats not an accident. Offshoring and immigration have killed the ability of labor to walk when given terrible choices like this.
- yunohn 6y ago
  > Offshoring and immigration That is a straw man. Instead, corporates need to be forced to follow labor laws and respect human rights.
  - ku-man 6y ago
    "...corporates need to be forced to follow labor laws and respect human rights." You dirty commie, why you don't move to North Korea?
  - sthnblllII 6y ago
    Increasing supply and reducing demand lowers the price. Thats why everyone who opposes immigration and offshoring is called a racist by corporate media.
- tuxxy 6y ago
  Are you really coming on HN to try and blame immigrants for this? Do you know the kind of contributions immigrants have had in this industry? Do you know how important open immigration has been to the rise of tech?
  - throwaway3699 6y ago
    You guys can both be right (and I believe you are). Instead of attacking the GP, why not find middle ground? Population growth could be changing the ability to easily get a low skilled job, but I personally believe offshoring is the biggest issue. There's simply less places to go. Anecdotally it used to be super common to walk out of a job on Friday and find another by Monday. We need that back for the sake of worker's rights.
    - sthnblllII 6y ago
      Because corporate interests are hell bent on stopping the people's will. Immigration gives employers a huge amount of power over workers and they will call normal people of all ethnicities racist in order to shut us up.
  - mc32 6y ago
    There are different kinds of labor from immigrant populations, one is mostly brawn, the other is the one that brings brains (and conversely may cause brain drain in the source country). That said, China has been successful (there are others) and have achieved success without this input. So I don’t think it’s a necessary ingredient. That said, talent improves economies. Imported labor (as well as automation) drives down labor costs and affects unskilled and semi skilled workers the most.
    - 2112 6y ago
      > Imported labor (as well as automation) drives down labor costs and affects unskilled and semi skilled workers the most. The impacts of automation are massive, I really recommend this Andrew Yang interview [0]. It's a real eye-opener. I had not realized the scale of this mess before watching that episode. Interesting numbers and insights in that 17 minute segment. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtyv8NpbFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtyv8NpbFQ
    - WalterSear 6y ago
      On the contrary, China's success comes from exactly this form of migrant exploitation, only internal to the country, and codified by law and culture into a two-caste system. Urban citizens get one set of opportunities, rural citizens get another. Legislation and opportunities overwhelmingly favor the urban citizens, and massive wealth transfer occurs between the two groups. "Today, holders of rural hukou are ostracized and discriminated against by their fellow citizens, and have little choice but to take on the most dangerous, demanding, and low-paying jobs that those with urban hukou wouldn’t dare involve themselves in." https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/chinas-caste-system-has-codified-economic-inequality https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/chinas-caste-system-h... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou
- ceilingcorner 6y ago
  Not agreeing or disagreeing with this take, but it's not an uncommon one and shouldn't be so downvoted. Bernie Sanders himself was singing a similar tune for most of the last 20 years. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/years-bernie-sanders-warned-that-increased-immigration-would-lower-wages-us-workers-now-he-barely-mentions-it/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/years-ber...
  - bryanlarsen 6y ago
    Popular bad ideas should be down-voted much more liberally than unpopular bad ideas.
    - ceilingcorner 6y ago
      Not a fan of downvoting in general. Bad ideas should be engaged and shown to be wrong, not shouted down by a mob.

sthnblllII 6y ago

Thats not an accident. Offshoring and immigration have killed the ability of labor to walk when given terrible choices like this.

yunohn 6y ago
> Offshoring and immigration That is a straw man. Instead, corporates need to be forced to follow labor laws and respect human rights.
- ku-man 6y ago
  "...corporates need to be forced to follow labor laws and respect human rights." You dirty commie, why you don't move to North Korea?
- sthnblllII 6y ago
  Increasing supply and reducing demand lowers the price. Thats why everyone who opposes immigration and offshoring is called a racist by corporate media.
tuxxy 6y ago
Are you really coming on HN to try and blame immigrants for this? Do you know the kind of contributions immigrants have had in this industry? Do you know how important open immigration has been to the rise of tech?
- throwaway3699 6y ago
  You guys can both be right (and I believe you are). Instead of attacking the GP, why not find middle ground? Population growth could be changing the ability to easily get a low skilled job, but I personally believe offshoring is the biggest issue. There's simply less places to go. Anecdotally it used to be super common to walk out of a job on Friday and find another by Monday. We need that back for the sake of worker's rights.
  - sthnblllII 6y ago
    Because corporate interests are hell bent on stopping the people's will. Immigration gives employers a huge amount of power over workers and they will call normal people of all ethnicities racist in order to shut us up.
- mc32 6y ago
  There are different kinds of labor from immigrant populations, one is mostly brawn, the other is the one that brings brains (and conversely may cause brain drain in the source country). That said, China has been successful (there are others) and have achieved success without this input. So I don’t think it’s a necessary ingredient. That said, talent improves economies. Imported labor (as well as automation) drives down labor costs and affects unskilled and semi skilled workers the most.
  - 2112 6y ago
    > Imported labor (as well as automation) drives down labor costs and affects unskilled and semi skilled workers the most. The impacts of automation are massive, I really recommend this Andrew Yang interview [0]. It's a real eye-opener. I had not realized the scale of this mess before watching that episode. Interesting numbers and insights in that 17 minute segment. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtyv8NpbFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAtyv8NpbFQ
  - WalterSear 6y ago
    On the contrary, China's success comes from exactly this form of migrant exploitation, only internal to the country, and codified by law and culture into a two-caste system. Urban citizens get one set of opportunities, rural citizens get another. Legislation and opportunities overwhelmingly favor the urban citizens, and massive wealth transfer occurs between the two groups. "Today, holders of rural hukou are ostracized and discriminated against by their fellow citizens, and have little choice but to take on the most dangerous, demanding, and low-paying jobs that those with urban hukou wouldn’t dare involve themselves in." https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/chinas-caste-system-has-codified-economic-inequality https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/chinas-caste-system-h... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou
ceilingcorner 6y ago
Not agreeing or disagreeing with this take, but it's not an uncommon one and shouldn't be so downvoted. Bernie Sanders himself was singing a similar tune for most of the last 20 years. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/years-bernie-sanders-warned-that-increased-immigration-would-lower-wages-us-workers-now-he-barely-mentions-it/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/16/years-ber...
- bryanlarsen 6y ago
  Popular bad ideas should be down-voted much more liberally than unpopular bad ideas.
  - ceilingcorner 6y ago
    Not a fan of downvoting in general. Bad ideas should be engaged and shown to be wrong, not shouted down by a mob.