4 ms·

UPS employees are unionized, and driving routes (vs. working in the warehouses) is a sought-after position that is one of the benefits of seniority (as I unders

by pyre 13y ago

UPS employees are unionized, and driving routes (vs. working in the warehouses) is a sought-after position that is one of the benefits of seniority (as I understand it). I expect that they might have issues rolling out a computerized delivery fleet.

jfoster 13y ago
So they'll just get replaced. Amazon and Google do seem keen to get into that space.
- jrockway 13y ago
  Also why the airlines go bankrupt approximately once per career. The gross revenue per flight is the same as time increases, but pay raises for seniority decrease the profit as the workforce ages. (Not making a value judgement here. Airline pilots have a tough job and do it well, and deserve to be well-paid. But the industry is not as nice as me.)
  - mikeash 13y ago
    It's not like they're forced to pay their workers more as they age. The ones with unions may be forced to do so by their contract, but non-union airlines are hardly immune from bankruptcy. Airlines go bankrupt because it's a cut-throat business with extreme competition, which drives profits to zero. An airline customer will switch carriers for as little as a $5 savings on the cost of a multi-hundred-dollar ticket. There is essentially zero customer loyalty. If you can't convince customers to pay more, and all possible cost-cutting measures have already been implemented, then you have no room. In an ideal world, a business could survive forever in an environment like that. In the real world, business is variable, and with no margin, you can't build any resiliency. A couple of bad years is enough to screw you.
tomkarlo 13y ago
Fedex drivers aren't. That doesn't matter as much when there aren't real alternatives, but it can become critical if technology starts to drastically reduce the need for labor. That's part of what happened to the American auto industry during the 80's.
cbhl 13y ago
I hope they replace the workers in the warehouses first; since UPS/FedEx/Amazon own them, they could put QR codes on the floor or other craziness to automate those workers first.

by pyre 13y ago

jfoster 13y ago

So they'll just get replaced. Amazon and Google do seem keen to get into that space.

jrockway 13y ago
Also why the airlines go bankrupt approximately once per career. The gross revenue per flight is the same as time increases, but pay raises for seniority decrease the profit as the workforce ages. (Not making a value judgement here. Airline pilots have a tough job and do it well, and deserve to be well-paid. But the industry is not as nice as me.)
- mikeash 13y ago
  It's not like they're forced to pay their workers more as they age. The ones with unions may be forced to do so by their contract, but non-union airlines are hardly immune from bankruptcy. Airlines go bankrupt because it's a cut-throat business with extreme competition, which drives profits to zero. An airline customer will switch carriers for as little as a $5 savings on the cost of a multi-hundred-dollar ticket. There is essentially zero customer loyalty. If you can't convince customers to pay more, and all possible cost-cutting measures have already been implemented, then you have no room. In an ideal world, a business could survive forever in an environment like that. In the real world, business is variable, and with no margin, you can't build any resiliency. A couple of bad years is enough to screw you.

tomkarlo 13y ago

Fedex drivers aren't. That doesn't matter as much when there aren't real alternatives, but it can become critical if technology starts to drastically reduce the need for labor. That's part of what happened to the American auto industry during the 80's.

cbhl 13y ago

I hope they replace the workers in the warehouses first; since UPS/FedEx/Amazon own them, they could put QR codes on the floor or other craziness to automate those workers first.