But nobody can afford to live in the city where the jobs may or may not be
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But nobody can afford to live in the city where the jobs may or may not be
Here's the 1,346 local listings right now on Craigslist for Amazon Flex >[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] .Not one says anything about insurance. Basically it's a part time job that they'll pay you $18-25 per hour, but you have to use your own car and have a cell phone with plan. Not worth the aggravation and burning of gas in everyday bumper to bumper traffic to me
Edit: tried to fix the link, but it's on a CL mobile app so only takes you to one of the ads
My comments center more around what happens to the cost of living in the area and the quality of life.
To my knowledge, Amazon pays good wages. Especially for staff in the office.
-Mike
Let me offer you another way to look at it.
Those jobs aren't new. They are created, in part, by the 100 stores that Macy's is closing. They average 200 employees per store, so almost 1/2 of the prospective Amazon employees will become available from just one company.
The unlevel playing field is wreaking havoc in dozens of communities across the country, but one lucky locale will roll out the red carpet, willingly give Bezos a huge payday and cheerfully ignore the decline of the local retailer.
If your city doesn't have rent control laws in place already, say goodbye to living there for 75% of the population (in my rather conservative estimate... cuz I'm, ya know, conservative like that
.)Edit> sorry for attaching my rant to yours, @Joe Nerve. I'm done. And I will not shop Macy's in a show of solidarity
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I only recently learned that the post office now does that with letter carriers. They pay a little more than minimum wage, but employ them part time only with no benefits or pensions until they have a certain amount of years in.
WalMart came along because a huge majority of the citizens no longer wanted to go to Grealy's Hardware and Johnson's Five-n-Dime. I miss those old little shops too. But time keeps moving. People wanted to go into one big store to get everything they needed and some stuff they just wanted at a great price. Amazon is taking over because now people want to sit on their couches in their PJs and get everything they want and some things they need delivered to their doors with the tap of a screen. Amazon is not the disease. It is merely one of the symptoms.
So don't blame Amazon. They are simply answering the call of a demand from your fellow humans. And local municipalities are simply being smart as well. Those Macy's jobs lost are in NYC or Houston, not all in Wyoming or Charlotte. So it will still be a huge net positive for THAT area.
If your fellow humans didn't WANT cheap goods delivered to their doors, there would be no need for Amazon. It would literally take a paradigm shift of the majority of people in the country not only actively supporting local brick and mortar, but also label reading for the Made in the USA label for it to turn around at this point. I don't see it happening.
In theory, that all sounds swell. I take it you didn't read the articles I linked? That's ok, i didn't finish them either
I'm not saying it's all bad, but the downsides aren't evident up front. It's a great time to be in the construction trade, but you don't want to be in the latest part of town with multiple cranes just trying to get to the freeway from a few blocks away when all those workers start getting in their trucks to go home from 2-2:30 onward (very very few of those dudes can even afford a house in this city.)
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And to address @Joe Nerve 's topic... i don't buy much online at all, & i can't speak of Macy's sales practices because i tend to avoid corporate giants altogether (don't even get me started on WalFart) and will always be willing to pay a bit more to shop a mom and pop store, which I don't think that they qualify as, so eff em by taking your business elsewhere.
I'm not disagreeing with you....per say. And certainly I haven't experienced it first hand like you have. I hate to read that your beloved town is turning into something not as cool.
But Seattle is/was the exception. Most large cities don't really have that kind of "soul" to begin with. Raleigh? Nope. Charlotte? Nope. DC? Nope. Only a tiny corner of Baltimore. Etc.
Seattle, San Francisco, New Orleans, etc. could be ruined and I can totally see that.
I have been watching Toronto change over the last 10 plus years
Not the cool place i loved living in.........and I'm getting old
Home delivery has always been available. Sears and Roebuck, Larkin, Fuller Brush, Amway, etc.
Joe didn't create this thread because he was too lazy to shop, he did so because of the huge advantages that Amazon leverages to buy out the market.
In 5 years (or 10, whatever the municipality can get Bezos to sign for) the incentive packages will expire.
$5 will get you $10 that Amazon will announce a bid for the newest and greatest Super Hub, leaving the region that gave him everything he wanted this go around high and dry.
Joe didn't create this thread because he was too lazy to shop, he did so because of the huge advantages that Amazon leverages to buy out the market.
In 5 years (or 10, whatever the municipality can get Bezos to sign for) the incentive packages will expire.
$5 will get you $10 that Amazon will announce a bid for the newest and greatest Super Hub, leaving the region that gave him everything he wanted this go around high and dry.
Or the municipality where he currently resides could decide it would be better to continue rolling out the red carpet rather than letting the incentives expire.
Look, I'm not "for" Amazon. It's just a business. I'm not against local small towns or their businesses. I'm just an observer of what it. To me, it's not "right or wrong". It's all kinds of interests looking out for themselves.
The customers are. They want cheap goods sent to their homes.
The towns are. They want lots of new jobs.
The politicians are. We'll leave it at that.
The vendors that make goods and sell them to Amazon billions at a time are.
And Amazon is.
Most are winning. Some are not. I don't like that anyone has to lose. But it is what it is. There's no need to change our structure to avoid this kind of thing. If you do, another kind of company will come along that just pumps food into our mouths via a hose run under the floor. Not all progress is good. But you can't stop progress.
I guess my point is that we are allowing our politicians to pick winners and losers.
I can only hope that we don't all lose when Bezos thinks he has concentrated enough power.
I can only hope that we don't all lose when Bezos thinks he has concentrated enough power.
So they live in the country right outside the city and still have a job and a roof? Clearly it can't be that Amazon destroys cities and then leaves nothing but a crater behind and moves on to destroy the next. That would be a dramatic spin on things not yet in evidence.
By the way, @Joe Nerve , I think we need pics and a poll to see if these coats are worth all the hassle to begin with. I trust that your wife has good taste but you? I'm on the fence.
(Then again, you wife did pick you....sooooooo......)
(Then again, you wife did pick you....sooooooo......)
By the way, @Joe Nerve , I think we need pics and a poll to see if these coats are worth all the hassle to begin with. I trust that your wife has good taste but you? I'm on the fence.
(Then again, you wife did pick you....sooooooo......)
N'yuk n'yuk
Yeah it's Charlotte on the short list....nowhere near here. I don't think Charlotte has a soul to steal.
Do banksters have souls?
Alkali Ike
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I'm not sure your rant against Macy's is 100% valid. Do they play games with the prices? Yes, of course, all retailers do that.
What about Amazon's "flexible pricing"? You look at some item on Amazon and it says the price is $100. Clear your browser history etc and browse the same item and it's $85. Or $115. They actually do this.
Are you absolutely 100% sure the clothing is exactly the same? Are you going by photos, or brand, or general description, or some kind of specific part or model number?
One of the tools retailers are using to fight showrooming is by having exclusives on certain models. Say you go to Best Buy and look at some Samsung TV and try to price shop online, but nobody has that exact model because Samsung helped out Best Buy by making them an "exclusive" model. This is also very common on mattresses.
Capitalism!
What about Amazon's "flexible pricing"? You look at some item on Amazon and it says the price is $100. Clear your browser history etc and browse the same item and it's $85. Or $115. They actually do this.
Are you absolutely 100% sure the clothing is exactly the same? Are you going by photos, or brand, or general description, or some kind of specific part or model number?
One of the tools retailers are using to fight showrooming is by having exclusives on certain models. Say you go to Best Buy and look at some Samsung TV and try to price shop online, but nobody has that exact model because Samsung helped out Best Buy by making them an "exclusive" model. This is also very common on mattresses.
Capitalism!
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