Yeah, I've talked to those guys. It's a shitty gig. And I knew some of the original warehouse guys at Amazon - one of 'em had the story of his towed Volvo written up in The Everything Store. I think both jobs are designed to grind you up and spit you out through deception; neither position is one with any long-term prospects and the externalities are carefully masked by Amazon. Somewhere on here there's an article that talks about the mobile home migrants that Amazon employs, like latter-day Tom Joads. I think that's one of the reasons Walmart is diminishing while Amazon is cresting; Walmart started their rape'n'pillage run out in the open and they started it back in the early '90s, while Amazon started their rape'n'pillage run in the dark and they started it in the early '00s. I think Amazon is gonna run out of rope sooner than Walmart did, though. Walmart, despised as it is by the liberal intelligentsia, is the 3rd place of the Rascal set. And Amazon ain't got no greeters.
Isn't this true of most warehousing / factory production / general "first line" jobs, not necessarily just Amazon? Though I am sure they mask things better than most places. I think both jobs are designed to grind you up and spit you out through deception; neither position is one with any long-term prospects and the externalities are carefully masked by Amazon.
Not at all. Typically, warehouse-related jobs are where unionization starts. Not only that but there's long been a tradition that warehouse experience leads up the ladder in any sort of sales/manufacturing enterprise. That's another leg Walmart has over Amazon - they at least tend to promote from within. Amazon, on the other hand, positions itself as a valuable resume builder within the tech world - "work for us, it'll impress everyone after you get sick of us." But that doesn't extend to the people who don't code.