4 ms·

I don't think Bezos is the one that came up with these idiotic corporate policies.

by infamouscow 3y ago

mofosyne 3y ago
Wether or not he decided it or not. He is still the prime beneficiary of a culture of explotation and fear.
- infamouscow 3y ago
  He's the primary reason why 1.5 million people have jobs.
  - RobRivera 3y ago
    Both statements can be true
- randomdata 3y ago
  Yes, no doubt the supervisor(s) feared that if they let it happen their job would be on the line. But how warranted was that fear? Would Bezos actually fly up to YXU and personally fire the management team over a worker sitting in their car? Or was it completely imagined? From my unattached outsider's perspective, I am almost certain Bezos would do no such thing. In fact, it is almost guaranteed that he would have never known about it, assuming it would have saved this person's life. In my experience with small business, I wouldn't even be able to keep track if any of the workers there were sitting in a car during a fire drill unless I watched it happen. There is no way someone in a business of millions of people is keeping such tabs. I can appreciate the imagining, though. I'm guilty of such things myself, finding out later the person I thought would draw ire wasn't thinking about me at all. I'm not sure that is cultural. It seems to be a basic human trait. In fact, our culture tries to remind people that nobody is thinking about you.
  - kozd 3y ago
    It's not like this is some isolated incident and Amazon's culture is otherwise healthy. The fish rots from the head.
    - randomdata 3y ago
      I suppose you have a point that warehouses don't exactly attract top talent. Ontario labour law is abundantly clear that employers must not terminate employees over matters related to protecting health and wellbeing. It even requires employers to ensure that the workers are well aware of that fact. This is going to cost Bezos a fortune when the government finds out what happened. But when the head shows up rotten, what can you do? I expect a sharp mind like yours would never even entertain the thought of working there, right?
      - kozd 3y ago
        Maybe dial back the snark. You seem to have forgotten to make any sort of coherent reply to what I actually said.
        randomdata 3y ago
        I recant the sharp mind question. You are clearly struggling.
        kozd 3y ago
        This is not a reddit thread. Give the tired responses a break and read the HN guidelines.
        randomdata 3y ago
        I do wonder how far off-topic you are prepared to go here? I’m around if you ever reach a point where your ego allows you to get past the earlier error. It is okay that your comment wasn’t thought through. Nobody cares. For the sake of kindness, I will continue to partake in this diversion therapy if that’s what you need to get through it, but know that I’m more interested in the original topic.
KennyBlanken 3y ago
You think he isn't aware of the policies? Or their effects? This death isn't the first. They've had so many problems with heat exhaustion the company hires private ambulance services so there's no public record of EMS being dispatched to their warehouses. This also isn't the first time they've had people end up outside the warehouse in freezing cold. Then there were the warehouse deaths caused because staff weren't allowed to shelter from a tornado. The list goes on and on.
- randomdata 3y ago
  > You think he isn't aware of the policies? With millions of employees there is no way he is able to say on top of the policies the workers are putting in place, no. Hell, I've spent enough time in small businesses to observe workers creating boneheaded policies behind the stakeholders' backs, only seeing them come to light when the stupidity caused itself to become known. How are you going to know? Nobody is going to tell you until it is too late. > Or their effects? Yes, most likely he is now aware that someone died as a result of another worker doing something idiotic. Now what? He can command to the workers to stop being idiots. I expect he already does that on a daily basis. But do you think that will really work? If you have ever worked with other people in these types of "low rung" jobs you will know that the worker always thinks they know better. Perhaps that is difficult to fathom from the tech "ivory tower"? Indeed, in tech – and I expect other "high prestige" careers – workers are generally more willing to think things through together and search for the best possible solution.

I don't think Bezos is the one that came up with these idiotic corporate policies.

mofosyne 3y ago

Wether or not he decided it or not. He is still the prime beneficiary of a culture of explotation and fear.

infamouscow 3y ago
He's the primary reason why 1.5 million people have jobs.
- RobRivera 3y ago
  Both statements can be true
randomdata 3y ago
Yes, no doubt the supervisor(s) feared that if they let it happen their job would be on the line. But how warranted was that fear? Would Bezos actually fly up to YXU and personally fire the management team over a worker sitting in their car? Or was it completely imagined? From my unattached outsider's perspective, I am almost certain Bezos would do no such thing. In fact, it is almost guaranteed that he would have never known about it, assuming it would have saved this person's life. In my experience with small business, I wouldn't even be able to keep track if any of the workers there were sitting in a car during a fire drill unless I watched it happen. There is no way someone in a business of millions of people is keeping such tabs. I can appreciate the imagining, though. I'm guilty of such things myself, finding out later the person I thought would draw ire wasn't thinking about me at all. I'm not sure that is cultural. It seems to be a basic human trait. In fact, our culture tries to remind people that nobody is thinking about you.
- kozd 3y ago
  It's not like this is some isolated incident and Amazon's culture is otherwise healthy. The fish rots from the head.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    I suppose you have a point that warehouses don't exactly attract top talent. Ontario labour law is abundantly clear that employers must not terminate employees over matters related to protecting health and wellbeing. It even requires employers to ensure that the workers are well aware of that fact. This is going to cost Bezos a fortune when the government finds out what happened. But when the head shows up rotten, what can you do? I expect a sharp mind like yours would never even entertain the thought of working there, right?
    - kozd 3y ago
      Maybe dial back the snark. You seem to have forgotten to make any sort of coherent reply to what I actually said.
      - randomdata 3y ago
        I recant the sharp mind question. You are clearly struggling.
        kozd 3y ago
        This is not a reddit thread. Give the tired responses a break and read the HN guidelines.
        randomdata 3y ago
        I do wonder how far off-topic you are prepared to go here? I’m around if you ever reach a point where your ego allows you to get past the earlier error. It is okay that your comment wasn’t thought through. Nobody cares. For the sake of kindness, I will continue to partake in this diversion therapy if that’s what you need to get through it, but know that I’m more interested in the original topic.

KennyBlanken 3y ago

You think he isn't aware of the policies? Or their effects? This death isn't the first. They've had so many problems with heat exhaustion the company hires private ambulance services so there's no public record of EMS being dispatched to their warehouses. This also isn't the first time they've had people end up outside the warehouse in freezing cold. Then there were the warehouse deaths caused because staff weren't allowed to shelter from a tornado. The list goes on and on.

randomdata 3y ago
> You think he isn't aware of the policies? With millions of employees there is no way he is able to say on top of the policies the workers are putting in place, no. Hell, I've spent enough time in small businesses to observe workers creating boneheaded policies behind the stakeholders' backs, only seeing them come to light when the stupidity caused itself to become known. How are you going to know? Nobody is going to tell you until it is too late. > Or their effects? Yes, most likely he is now aware that someone died as a result of another worker doing something idiotic. Now what? He can command to the workers to stop being idiots. I expect he already does that on a daily basis. But do you think that will really work? If you have ever worked with other people in these types of "low rung" jobs you will know that the worker always thinks they know better. Perhaps that is difficult to fathom from the tech "ivory tower"? Indeed, in tech – and I expect other "high prestige" careers – workers are generally more willing to think things through together and search for the best possible solution.