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I predict the Staten Island warehouse will soon be closed due to redundancy as part of a strategic rebalancing of their logistics operations due to changing con

by JustLurking2022 5y ago

I predict the Staten Island warehouse will soon be closed due to redundancy as part of a strategic rebalancing of their logistics operations due to changing consumer demand. Someone at Amazon is probably already touring all the warehouse sites in Jersey. Doubt they accept this loss.

ashtonkem 5y ago
I’m having a hard time seeing that work for them. Amazon’s tactics here fundamentally depend on there being an effectively inexhaustible pool of talent elsewhere that can be used to threaten any given store that considers unionizing, combined with the plausible threat of moving to get non union labor. Close up shop, hire non-union labor elsewhere, etc. That might have been true of Walmart stores, which are relatively small and cheap to build, but I do not think it’s true for Amazon. The cost of relocating a warehouse is high, the number of places they can put a replacement warehouse is low, and the risk of another unionization push is non-trivial. Especially since Amazon is already beginning to hit head count issues; treating people as disposable drones doesn’t work when you need so many workers in a hot job market. They are probably making their unionization problems worse due to the way they view and treat their warehouse workers. To be clear, I think they’ll try. What we’re seeing from Amazon is a real inability to react and innovate to new labor markets. I just don’t think it’ll work out as well for them as it did for say, Walmart.
- JustLurking2022 5y ago
  There are large warehouses regularly available all along I-95 in New Jersey. They also may not need as huge of a footprint as you think - I believe they have some large warehouses just across the border in PA as well (<2 hours away), so this one may only be critical for same day delivery. Yes, it would be expensive, more expensive than closing a Wal-Mart store, but I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon finds the alternative worse.
CatsInSinks 5y ago
I was thinking the exact same thing, most likely that'll be the move.
nemo44x 5y ago
Of course. This “win” will just mean thousands of people making good money doing short term work (Amazon warehouses are not a career - most workers use it to fill in) won’t have this option.
ron22 5y ago
Some of the workers live hours away from the warehouse. The President of the Amazon Labor Union lived in New Jersey[1] when he was working there. So there might be a lot of, or a least enough to make a difference, overlap in the hiring pool, depending how far they relocate. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKjNgLaiyU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKjNgLaiyU

ashtonkem 5y ago

I’m having a hard time seeing that work for them. Amazon’s tactics here fundamentally depend on there being an effectively inexhaustible pool of talent elsewhere that can be used to threaten any given store that considers unionizing, combined with the plausible threat of moving to get non union labor. Close up shop, hire non-union labor elsewhere, etc. That might have been true of Walmart stores, which are relatively small and cheap to build, but I do not think it’s true for Amazon. The cost of relocating a warehouse is high, the number of places they can put a replacement warehouse is low, and the risk of another unionization push is non-trivial. Especially since Amazon is already beginning to hit head count issues; treating people as disposable drones doesn’t work when you need so many workers in a hot job market. They are probably making their unionization problems worse due to the way they view and treat their warehouse workers. To be clear, I think they’ll try. What we’re seeing from Amazon is a real inability to react and innovate to new labor markets. I just don’t think it’ll work out as well for them as it did for say, Walmart.

JustLurking2022 5y ago
There are large warehouses regularly available all along I-95 in New Jersey. They also may not need as huge of a footprint as you think - I believe they have some large warehouses just across the border in PA as well (<2 hours away), so this one may only be critical for same day delivery. Yes, it would be expensive, more expensive than closing a Wal-Mart store, but I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon finds the alternative worse.

CatsInSinks 5y ago

I was thinking the exact same thing, most likely that'll be the move.

nemo44x 5y ago

Of course. This “win” will just mean thousands of people making good money doing short term work (Amazon warehouses are not a career - most workers use it to fill in) won’t have this option.

ron22 5y ago

Some of the workers live hours away from the warehouse. The President of the Amazon Labor Union lived in New Jersey[1] when he was working there. So there might be a lot of, or a least enough to make a difference, overlap in the hiring pool, depending how far they relocate. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKjNgLaiyU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krKjNgLaiyU