Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ars 1525 days ago
That's not that different from doing piecework.

> Though, I suspect treating their workers better and giving them more benefits, security, and humanity would be about cost neutral compared to their intense current system of treating workers like cogs. You can only squeeze someone for so long.

I only see stories of bad treatment from activists, interviews I've seen with actual employees say they are happy with the work, and "people who complain have never done warehouse work".

1 comments

150% annual attrition is not a sign of a healthy workplace. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/15/us/amazon-wor...
Is that attrition rate inclusive of seasonal employees?
The NYT article I linked to accounts for seasonal workforce differences and has a lengthy methodology section at the bottom.
It's a warehouse job that demands real physical labour each day of course people leave if they get a better offer or even a worse offer that requires less work.
It's 3 times the rates reported by BLS though they group "Transportation, warehousing, and utilities" into a single category.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t16.htm

It's also a job that will be there until it can be automated or until Amazon closes, and I think it's the latter that's the closest to happening. Until that happens, it'd be better for everyone involved if the tasks that need doing can be arranged so that long-term employment is viable. A job shouldn't be as exploitative as it can be just because there will be someone who's in a rough enough spot in their life that they will take it.