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It's so sad that only few hundreds kilometers west in Germany relatively interesting and high paid tech jobs at Amazon are available, and over here they adverti
by durnygbur 5y ago
It's so sad that only few hundreds kilometers west in Germany relatively interesting and high paid tech jobs at Amazon are available, and over here they advertise in city centers their warehouse jobs... happy, fulfilling, rewarding, young! Become a warehouse-kapo so consumers in Germany can receive their packages!
- that_guy_iain 5y agoI get the vibe that you think Amazon treats Germany better. Amazon has warehouses in basically every country and treats their warehouse employees like crap in every country. Amazon as far as I know treats all of their employees like crap.
- durnygbur 5y agoMy point is rather that in Germany at least one can work on their tech stuff and in warehouses they experienced solid pushback by German unions. Meanwhile rich western investor in Poland? For a plastic bag of cash on the table, they can do literally anything and receive taxbreaks.
- eafkuor 5y ago> My point is rather that in Germany at least one can work on their tech stuff I'd bet Amazon tech workers in Gdańsk and Warsaw have more purchasing power than their German counterparts
- roguas 5y agoKinda. Germany is not famous for high salaries in tech. This wouldnt apply for Switzerland, UK, Netherlands etc.
- durnygbur 5y agoiPhones and BMWs are more expensive in Poland than in Germany, potato is cheaper though...
- that_guy_iain 5y agoIs rent cheaper?
- durnygbur 5y agoThere is no culture of renting. After fall of communism people went into full capitalism mode but don't have the sophistication to invest into something more complicated than a mortgage and real estate. One gets 20-30 sqm studio for 450-600 eur/month. Basically hotel room with kitchen annex. I think Warsaw took over Berlin already.
- treerock 5y agoAmazon still has to abide by the laws and regulations of countries they work in. So I wouldn't be surprised if workers in Germany are treated a lot better than they are in countries with weaker laws (not talking about Poland here, I don't know how they compare).
- josefx 5y agoNot sure if they just slip by while not being in the spot light. Amazon repeatedly failed to follow COVID regulations in France, refused to reduce operations to a manageable point and instead opted to shut the affected warehouses down completely.
- bserge 5y agoLol, they advertise the same in Germany. But at least they pay 12 Euros/hour and you get to hear "schneller, schneller" every day!
- wyclif 5y agoMach Schau! Mach Schau!
- omgwtfusb 5y agothey ship all over Europe man
- durnygbur 5y agoThere is solid line of their trucks on our east-west highways. Blocking the right lane at times. Almost as if one country was taking the most attention...
- thriftwy 5y agoThey're both in the EU which has freedom of movement. It should be quite easy to go over the border and get employed there. Which really vacuum cleans all lands easy of Germany but that's another point.
- tom_code 5y agoYou can work for Amazon/AWS and make more (relative to prices in Poland) then in Germany...
- MomoXenosaga 5y agoEastern Europeans are exploited at every turn. They put them into rat infested caravans that they have to pay a few hundred euro per week for. But that's how Poland will pull itself up by the bootstraps and become rich. It is a stage every successful country went through.
- cto_of_antifa 5y agoEven if that was true, though, does that make it okay? Does that reduce the need to fight against it?
- insidedivision 5y agoYou do know, that there are 24 fulfillment centers in Germany alone and each one of them needs the same type of work, that is being done in each of 7 centers in Poland? Because your comment suggests that the hard work is being done only in Poland.
- franczesko 5y agoWorking standards and labor laws are different in those countries,e.g. in Germany unions are pretty strong and warehouse workers are better protected (only 2 shifts are allowed), whereas in Poland those sweatshops run 24/7. Hourly pay for this job in PL is equal to €5.3/$6.2/£4.5. Cheap workforce is the sole reason of Amazon's presence in PL (until very recent, they didn't even have a local domain) and the backbone of their logistics for Western Europe.
- murderfs 5y ago> warehouse workers are better protected (only 2 shifts are allowed), whereas in Poland those sweatshops run 24/7 I don't understand how mandating inefficiency is protecting workers?
- simiones 5y agoBecause human beings have limits beyond which they break, even when they are desperate for money. Low-regulation countries (or corrupt countries, which is equivalent for the corrupters) ignore those limits and achieve efficiency for the rich at the expense of the bodies of the poor.
- HPsquared 5y agoThat's why overtime is paid at a higher rate.
- simiones 5y agoMoney can't fix this. Many young people think themselves indestructible and roll the dice (without even realizing) by ruining their health for money. This practice must simply be made illegal, except for the most dire of needs (e.g. a surgeon in the middle of an operation can't just clock out). Just like you can't legally sell yourself into slavery or sell your organs, you shouldn't be allowed to sell your health away for a bigger buck like this; and businesses that rely on such practices for their business model should simply be closed down.
- siva7 5y agoWell, german amazon has their german warehouse employees for that. They are basically treated the same as in any other warehouse.
- dx034 5y agoA lot of German amazon packages (esp warehousedeals but not exclusively) will be shipped from Poland though. It's simply cheaper for Amazon given the huge wage difference and the relatively short distance (<10h by truck from Western Poland to pretty much all of Germany).
- ianleeclark 5y ago> Become a warehouse-kapo so consumers in Germany can receive their packages! Some casual holocaust trivialization on a Wednesday.
- durnygbur 5y agoRather culturally and historically aware dark joke (hint - American corporation "serving" Germans on Polish soil and funelling the real profits through some obscure arrangements). Give us something better this time please, we deserve it.
- ianleeclark 5y agoI feel like you're missing something in your historical awareness. Hint: it has something to do with the kapo comment and the comparison of places like Treblinka and Sobibor to an Amazon warehouse.
- KptMarchewa 5y agoThey have tech jobs in Poland too.
- atraac 5y agoI'm from Poland and few years ago as a student I was working one night serving dinners in Wroclaw Amazon warehouse as a side job. Besides the fact that some people in night shifts were clearly under the influence and most were either really old, or really young, the whole thing looks like a prison. Motivational texts on the walls, bland colors, everyone was sad and depressed, metal detectors and security checks everywhere. I genuinely felt bad for people working there. There were a lot of stories that they count your steps to force you to work more but I don't know how much of these were true. Generally Amazon(warehouse) here attracts really the people who have nowhere else to go and is considered 'last resort' kind of job around here.
- dx034 5y agoWhile I agree with most of your points, security checks are standard. Employee theft is a big issue in almost any warehouse, so searching employees after shifts is nothing unusual and doesn't tend to be a big hassle for most.