Weren’t these jobs like, feared already cause they treat you less like a machine, they treated you like shit to the point youd have a good chance that you have to step over a dead body eventually?
Their turnover rate is ridiculously high and supply chains as an industry have been steadily moving towards automation. Robots are going to keep replacing unloaders, loaders, and pickers just as AI is going to start replacing buyers and dispatchers in the near future.
I worked for FedEx and it seems to me that Amazon didn’t start this practice which is why it’s confusing to me why they get the spotlight, it’s just industry standard it seems (Amazon, FedEx, and UPS)
The place I work at had a 400% turnover rate for the 90 day period. Luckily I’ve seen other places and it doesn’t seem like its a company wide thing, but a location to location issue. They pay higher than minimum wage as a standard, but that still didn’t entice me or others to continue working there because of how much labor vs pay it is. Plus the stress of angry managers doesn’t help it at all.
That’s an important point. A lot of these places can’t find or keep people even when they pay rather well. A few years ago an old neighbor of mine got a job at (I’m pretty sure) UPS and it paid well but the work just wasn’t worth it and he quit and took a pay cut to have significantly less stressful job. To be fair he had a pretty bad back that caused him a lot of pain.
I honestly don’t know what to think. Yes, people need jobs, but more importantly, they need GOOD jobs. Amazon treats people terribly and, even at their best, does the bare minimum to comply with the law and keep their warehouses staffed.
Employees are being taken advantage of. Getting people out of there might be a net positive.
We need protections for those workers (i.e. UBI, et al) BEFORE they lose their jobs to capitalist dreams, preferably funded by the capitalists.
I 100% agree with this, and that’s why I can’t see robots taking job as bad news.
The problem is with the society. We need to build it better, so these advantages are for us - not for some scummy rich guy.
On another note: nobody should be a billionaire.
Yes, unfortunately currently society exists to serve billionaires, and we don’t see that changing much. More automation will just entrench that power further.
We need to eliminate billionaires yesterday, or risk ending up in techno neo-feudalism.
Capitalism is reaching its end road. Things will change, for better or for worse. How it will change will depend on whether politics will support the people, or the rich… and of we continue on without changing much, it will support the rich.
I think this could have worked if the employees being replaced owned the robots. They don’t have the capital anymore but when there was a middle class this could have been a possibility.
As it stands right now, we need those workers to be out of jobs and on the streets for protections to be considered. Otherwise “they have jobs,” unemployment is low and the machine is “working as expected.” Therefore nothing needs to be done.
we need those workers to be out of jobs and on the streets
I’m guessing you’ll be the first to volunteer then? For the greater good and all.
I think you’re missing the point, those who lose their jobs to automation are somewhat random / due to environmental factors and not up to choice so it’s a bit weird suggesting that.
What they are suggesting is politicians will only act once enough people are suffering in the streets. Not necessarily saying it’s morally justified, just that’s what it takes for governments to take action. Nobody is defending how our politicians are failing us.
Is that what you gather from my comment? 😳
No, we don’t.
If Amazon doesn’t need employees then they don’t need tax breaks. In fact add a new tax for any business that switches to robot labor. They can pay the missing personal wages in taxes. Texas makes electric car drivers pay more for not using gas, this seems like the same thing.
Disagree. There’s no need to pay taxes if you don’t employ anyone. No salaries - no salary taxes. Also Texas is backwards.
Charge everyone that uses computers then, instead of using secretaries to do everything.
Stupid idea because it incentives inefficiencies. Taxes need to be made up elsewhere like in vat or income tax.
Computers didnt reduce jobs, they created many more.
Amazon (along with others) absolutely destroyed jobs, killed competition and violated antitrust laws. All because they were wealthy and could buy their way out. Then they treated their employees with contempt (piss-bottles) and made them work in unsafe work environments (Illinois tornado). They deserve to be broken up like all monopoly-like businesses.
How did the printing press make more jobs?
It didn’t at least not immediately.
This is just being a luddite all over again. Higher output and less work for a society is a dream we should all be striving for. Keeping people in shitty jobs because they don’t have another job to go to when we could replace their work is barbaric.
I didn’t say keep people in shitty jobs. I said pretty much let’s make Amazon pay back all the tax breaks theyve got and if they want to remove employees tax them for it. Why do you think all the cities in America threw themselves at Amazon and offered $100s of millions of tax breaks to open facilities near them. It was for the jobs they were bringing locally. They want to remove, fine. Other corporations that effectively pay $0 in taxes each year want to dump workers too, that’s cool. They better pay for doing it tho. For running small businesses out of towns. For using genuine antitrust practices to prevent real competition that would have kept wages and jobs safe all these years. They owe the American people. All you guys defending them, defending the failure of capitalism can suck my dick. I’m done fighting this with you.
That’s insanity. You can’t draw the line anywhere clearly
The government fucked up by giving them tax breaks. They operate within the confines of the law, the law needs changing so politicians can’t give them handouts.
But taxing efficiencies and advancing the world is the worst idea ever.
If the politicians gave it to bezos the people can take it back. You think its fair the sackler family keeps the billions they made for killing 10s of millions of people through the years. Just because what they did was legal at the time. They are going to see justice and I can only hope the billionaires in this country see the same justice for their crimes against the economy.
If you are worried about your amazon job you need to join a government program that will train you for a better job. Amazon sucks to work for and you deserve better.
Why do they need a humanoid robot to move an empty box from one conveyor belt to the other? They could have made a conveyor belt or robot arm instead.
Whatever. I’m glad no human is needed to waste their life doing that shit job.
Yep! No one wants these jobs lol
Digit gone get his ass knocked over.
The big reason corporations are using robots instead of human labor is because people either don’t want to work or can’t hold a position.
The turnover rate is actually insane in these positions; enough so that they would rather spend more paying a technician to set up an automated cell with robots, PLC’s, pneumatic slides, ect.
It’s sad af but don’t blame the robots or the technicians, this is not their fault.
I work in this industry, and you couldn’t be more wrong. The turnover rate is so high because the job is incredibly demanding, working conditions are usually horrible, and the pay is absolute shit.
If you can’t work, then no job for you.
Removed by mod
What are your other hot takes? Trump won the election? The “lizard people” control the media? Slavery was beneficial to black people?
deleted by creator
