Rachel Maddow shares highlights from a new New York Times report on how Amazon, the company that is likely to soon become the largest private employer in the U.S., treats its workers, guided by a philosophy that workers are inherently lazy and purposely maintaining an extremely high rate of turnover to ensure that disgruntled workers don't linger.
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Man the guy Barely pays taxes Do you think he’s going to care about his workers it’s time to Unionize
In theory I like that idea, but can you name one reasonable demand that a union could deliver? Pay is already above industry standard, and there are good benefits.
As much as I’d like to see growth in private sector unions, I just don’t see any hat they could do for Amazon warehouse workers. They aren’t going to fundamentally change the disposable nature of unskilled labor, nor the dehumanizing nature of package handling.
Sure, drive Amazon to totally automate their fulfillment centers. As long as humans are even marginally cheaper than robots, they’ll provide employment.
@Deborah Freedman that would be a happy outcome: Amazon switches to robots instead of people, is forced to pay taxes on its massive income, the taxation fuels a social safety net, and the people find more fulfilling occupations.
He paid zero in taxes I think 2019 was leaked. Neither did his company. He’s a welfare queen.
If people really are quitting at that rate at Amazon they don’t know how to treat people. Normally people will put up with a lot for a paycheck.
They value their workforce only so long as it gets them profits while not costing them any more than current upkeep. Human Resources, and Human Capital, their workforce is a resource to be used until it gives out and then replaced. It is capital to be spent on something and then it is out of their hands. They spend these people, and reap the rewards.
If allowed to continue unchecked, I fully expect Amazon and Walmart to be the mega-corps that are present in corporatocracy dystopian stories of our past. The Arasakas and Militech. The Weyland-Yutani, and the Tyrell Corporations. They will not own the governments. They will be the governments. They will own or rent the citizens, they will operate indenturement centers and have company towns/cities/states. They will own all, and the workers will be thankful for the scraps that they get to survive.
@Code Warrior It’s sad that what you touched on is a very real possibility, probably spot on…😒
Speak for yourself. I have enough clients.
Yeah. John Oliver did a piece on it. They’re treated terrible.
How do you think he can afford a 500 millions Yacht? While paying ZERO taxes, yet he claims to be losing money in order to exploit the tax code.
Don’t forget the 2nd yacht to service the main yacht. Kind of disgusting.
@Dawn Adriana it really is disgusting, when you think about all of those resources going to waste. Humans will never reach the stars or make life better if we tolerate this sorts of imbalance, that so few gets to hold so much.
@Vinny • this system is called capitalism, he said to vinny who was typing on a mass manufactured smart phone.
You think package handlers have it bad? Workers in cell phone manufacturing plants in china have it bad, and yet tou continue to patronize them.
500 million is snack money to Bezo. At $25,000 per year, it takes 40 years to get to a million, but 40,000 to get to a billion.
That’s sad, I was considering getting a job at Amazon in a year or two but now I’m not sure….think I’ll learn a trade instead.
Good idea. I worked there for a short stint and they treat their workers like modern day slaves. It’s like working in a sweat shop.
@Marcus Marshall Well shoot, I guess Amazon isn’t the place for me after all. Lol
Watch the John Oliver episode on it
Most last corporations are like Amazon. They don’t care about the workers but care about the work only.
No kind, generous, caring humanitarian person would be worth a billion dollar, let alone hundreds of billions. That tells you what kind of a person Bezos is.
@Lynnell Scott Never have used Amazon , its just when you search some products google do suggest Amazon page sometimes and every time i have looked it its not been the cheapest option at all .
@Pete Lind I stand corrected.
You’re still complaining about the $15 wage?
@Pete Lind Amazon has good customer service. You just hate a successful company that actually pays people $15
@Pete Lind Same day shipping is awesome though…
“Not sticking around for the long haul.”
I was sold the lie as well, back in the early 80’s. The saying used to go something like; ‘Work hard and do a good job and all of your efforts will be rewarded in due time.’ It was a collapsing lie back then and is now an unambiguous middle finger to all of those that wish to improve their position through traditional working roles in our modern society.
Work hard and everything in the future will be solved was definitely a lie.
In the philippines, where i live, as in much of the world, hard work only guarantees that you will be working hard. To believe such a fantasy makes you akin to a child. Raise capital, invest wisely, and live within your means. These are lessons that americans living a hand to mouth existence have never fully grasped
TheBippy – Thank you!! 👍
And don’t forget this one – if you start work at 5 am and stay until 7 pm, management will promote you because you are so productive.
Wise words of experience. Thanks
The Industrial Revolution was characterized by a callousness by business owners toward their employees that amounted to depravity. Nothing’s changed.
Correct, but the farming period that predated it was neither very good to most peasants. In many countries peasants were just working for land lords, kings and church with little left over for them self.
The day Bezos has robots that can “pick” items for shipment as accurate as humans can, Amazon will lay off all their warehouse workers. Bezos is not the “Jobs Savior”.
I’m sure he’s looking into it 😂
Already does. People are cheaper and more disposable than a robot though.
THANK YOU! All of these whiners…! Ug.
Bezos is totally correct to consider “a large, disgruntled” workforce a threat. But it only gets that way if he treats his employees like s, so that’s on him. That’s his choice. He’s essentially admitting that mistreating his workers is an implicit part of the strategic plan.
It’s even worse. Those people working long hours for scraps still pay more in taxes from what little they have than the billionaires who profit from their labor.
and those same little peoples taxes pay for the infrastructure and all social services a society needs to function, schools hospitals etc etc
Amazon seems to regard its employees the way nuclear reactor operators regard nuclear fuel pellets: drain them of their useful energy, then get them out of there before their radioactivity becomes a problem.
Is he going to have to pee in a can while he’s up there?
LMAO Bezos doesn’t have a low regards for his workers, he has zero regard for them, but then very few American employers have regards for workers.
Bezos is really just trying to talk himself into replacing his human workers with robots. Watch it happen. He’s right on the verge.
“Don’t Promote The Workers” if you are working hard and making the business money good luck in getting promoted. Management will always scupper such effort. This happens all over not just Amazon
I hope Bezos likes his space trip so much he never comes back to Earth.
The irony of being called fulfillment centers when the workers who are underpaid and over worked in them aren’t fulfilled or energised to work there but have to because it’s a paycheck and they’d never be allowed to negotiate a decent wage.
When you treat employees like expendable chattel to be chronically overworked and underrewarded, is it any wonder they would lose their motivation after a short time?