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Depressing Jobs: The Amazon worker

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  1. #11

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    What a spoiled little brat lol.

    He picked that job and shift because all of the other ones probably pay half the wages.

    Night shift is a biatch.

    At least he's working though. Could be unemployed at home.


  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cwbguy:
    Luckily only done 2 of those jobs

  3. #13

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    Many years ago, I saw a story on the news involving disgruntled employees. Their job was to clear a field buy cutting the grass, trimming shrubs, etc. The reason these employees were upset is that they were replaced by a couple of goats. These employees complained to their union and it somehow make the local news. Perhaps I'm a heartless bastard, but my takeaway from the story was if a goat could replace you, it might be best to expand your skill set.


  4. #14

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    They should learn how happily people in China do their job!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wQyyUwxIwI

    UK/HKboy likes this.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by huja:
    Many years ago, I saw a story on the news involving disgruntled employees. Their job was to clear a field buy cutting the grass, trimming shrubs, etc. The reason these employees were upset is that they were replaced by a couple of goats. These employees complained to their union and it somehow make the local news. Perhaps I'm a heartless bastard, but my takeaway from the story was if a goat could replace you, it might be best to expand your skill set.
    Reminded me of this old joke:-


    One afternoon, a wealthy lawyer was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw two pathetic-looking men by the side of the road, eating grass. He ordered his driver to stop and got out to investigate. He asked the men, "Why are you eating grass?"

    "We don't have no money for food," the first man replied.

    "Then you must come with me to my house," insisted the lawyer.

    "But, sir, I got a wife and three kids here," said the man.

    "Bring them along!" replied the lawyer.

    The second man exclaimed, "I got a wife and six kids!"

    "Bring them as well!", the lawyer proclaimed as he headed back to his limo.

    They all climbed into the car, and once underway, one of the men expresses, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."

    The lawyer replied, "I'm most happy to do it. You'll love my place. The grass is almost a foot tall."
    huja, Mat and gigglinggal like this.

  6. #16

  7. #17

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    I'm surprised by the reaction on this thread. I thought the guy in the article came across as reasonably factual and that he wasn't simply complaining.

    To me, the article was interesting because it shows how a cutting edge, ubiquitously powerful, company is redefining menial labour for the worse. And as willing consumers we're willing to ignore or accept this.

    There are worse jobs out there, but exactly how is this point relevant? Should a first world society really be aiming to produce even more soulless, dead end jobs like this?

    Skyhook and imparanoic like this.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by jgl:
    I'm surprised by the reaction on this thread. I thought the guy in the article came across as reasonably factual and that he wasn't simply complaining.

    To me, the article was interesting because it shows how a cutting edge, ubiquitously powerful, company is redefining menial labour for the worse. And as willing consumers we're willing to ignore or accept this.

    There are worse jobs out there, but exactly how is this point relevant? Should a first world society really be aiming to produce even more soulless, dead end jobs like this?
    There are millions of soulless dead end jobs out there, probably the majority of them. The answer is automation but then that creates another problem.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    There are millions of soulless dead end jobs out there, probably the majority of them. The answer is automation but then that creates another problem.
    I think this kind of job is the perfect example of the effects of automation. Amazon automates everything that it possibly can- the pools of activity that can't be cost effectively automated in a warehouse end up being plugged with human labour. Sorting happens to be one of them.

    This guy is probably a process box that sits at the input and output of other processes which are fully automated- that's why he doesn't talk to, or interact with, anyone else in the warehouse. To me, that's one of the main points of the article. The first thing I can think of that fits the phrase "menial labour" would be office or street cleaners. Shitty hours, no career progression. But they get to interact with other people, the job is not deliberately designed to isolate them.
    Skyhook likes this.

  10. #20

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    I worked the night shift of a chalk factory when working on a kibbutz in Israel many, many moons ago. After a few nights I was seeing ghosts and completely freaked out - the dark, isolation etc, was horrible. On the other hand some of the people there sought out this job because they liked being alone. So there are jobs that suit some people and there are jobs that suit others. The problem is today there are not enough jobs to go around... my hope is that in the future people will be better matched to the jobs they do. faint hope though!

    imparanoic likes this.