Amazon searching for second HQ

Issues concerning Downtown as described by the Downtown Council. River to 31st Street, I-35 to Bruce R. Watkins.
earthling
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by earthling »

Creating an environment of fear (if true) is maybe why the 'slave labor' term is used by some who work there... moreso than the wages, which is known when accepting the job. Rumblings of 'fear environment' also brewing with Whole Foods ever since AMZ took over. It doesn't appear to be typical short term acquisition/layoff pressures but rather the culture AMZ is imposing on WF. AMZ need to figure out how to run as efficiently as possible w/out creating a culture of fear for employees.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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I think to throw around terms like"Slave Labor" severely diminishes the severity of the legacy that African Americans suffered and the economic and social disadvantages that continue because of that legacy. Getting paid a shit wage to work in a warehouse is nothing like slavery. It sucks but you still have rights, don't get beaten, can't be forcibly removed from your family or home and even at that wage level, if you are incredibly disciplined and willing to forego any type of luxury you can build wealth. They also get health care and some type of access to retirement accounts.

From the web Amazon warehouse employees get
health insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company stock. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of paid leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families. Leave Share lets employees share their Amazon paid leave with their spouse or domestic partner if their spouse's employer doesn't offer paid leave. Ramp Back gives new moms additional control over the pace at which they return to work. Just as with Amazon's health care plan, these benefits are egalitarian - they're the same for fulfillment center and customer service employees as they are for Amazon's most senior executives.

"Part-time employees who work more than 20 hours per week receive benefits, including life and disability insurance, dental and vision insurance with premiums paid in full by Amazon, and funding towards medical insurance.

"Both full-time and part-time hourly employees are eligible for Amazon's innovative Career Choice program that pre-pays 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a future career at Amazon. The company has built dedicated Career Choice classrooms at more than 25 fulfillment centers to make it easier for employees to go back to school by offering classes onsite."
Calling that slavery is insulting to slaves and those that fought and died to end slavery.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by earthling »

Those working the warehouses are of course using the term 'relative' to other warehouses, but obviously it's not comparable and is clearly hyperbole. Some will find it insensitive, others don't mean it literally.

Whatever appropriate term... The 'culture of fear for your job' seems to differentiate Amazon from other warehouses, and it appears to be percolating in Whole Foods too since acquired by AMZ.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by shinatoo »

earthling wrote:Those working the warehouses are of course using the term 'relative' to other warehouses, but obviously it's not comparable and is clearly hyperbole. Some will find it insensitive, others don't mean it literally.

Whatever appropriate term... The 'culture of fear for your job' seems to differentiate Amazon from other warehouses, and it appears to be percolating in Whole Foods too since acquired by AMZ.
I agree that is not a good way to run your business or treat your employees. Just a pet peeve of mine. Sorry for getting preachy.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by FangKC »

It's not preachy. I pay attention to news articles about companies that have bad business practices. It's not only about how they treat their employees. It's also about their strategy to displace other long-time "Main Street" businesses. If their practices fall into the bad category, I avoid shopping there.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by earthling »

An 'activist shopper' I'm not and use many of the Amazon Prime services but now reluctant to renew given the 'fear culture' stories increasing. Thought at first some workers may be overstating the culture but then similar stories appearing with Whole Foods too. If AMZ recognizes this and makes changes, I'll stick with them. Is not hard to find controversial issues with other large companies... Apple had the factory suicide issues, Google has its questionable practices too. As long as they recognize and address their issues. So far AMZ doesn't show signs of it.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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brewcrew1000 wrote:Wow, its funny how at one time Walmart was labeled the bad guys. Walmart pays fairly well if you work your way up, Store Managers can make 80-120k a year but they can also bonus up to 100k a year. Even the middle managements can average a salary of 45-75k and bonus 1-20k.

Walmart really wasn't even that bad of a company until after Sam Walton. I think at one time stores were closed Sunday and the company had fairly humble roots.
You should check out To Serve God and Walmart. It’s a very interesting history of their labor practices.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by w00lyb00ger »

earthling wrote:An 'activist shopper' I'm not and use many of the Amazon Prime services but now reluctant to renew given the 'fear culture' stories increasing. Thought at first some workers may be overstating the culture but then similar stories appearing with Whole Foods too. If AMZ recognizes this and makes changes, I'll stick with them. Is not hard to find controversial issues with other large companies... Apple had the factory suicide issues, Google has its questionable practices too. As long as they recognize and address their issues. So far AMZ doesn't show signs of it.
Apple actually wasn’t responsible for that. It was one of their suppliers that was abusing their employees. However, I get what you’re saying. It’s not an uncommon problem. Some companies care somewhat and try to address it while others are seemingly always thumbing their nose at anyone suggesting they adhere to fair labor practices and continually strive to invent even more ways to exploit employees. Wal-Mart being the king. The number of complaints filed with the NLRB against them alone is enough to keep the board busy for years to come.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by beautyfromashes »

Capitalism. Demand too much and you lose what you already have.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by brewcrew1000 »

I know this isn't an Amazon 2nd HQ related but I wonder if KC ever put a bid on the Army Futures Command HQ? Its down to 15 finalists now but this could be a bigger HQ than the Amazon 2nd HQ
http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities- ... d=85543369
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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Rumors that DC area (Virginia) is a strong finalist. Lobbying impact a factor along with Bezos owning WaPo? Amazon spends over $10M/yr on lobbying (in top 20).

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.p ... wYear=2018
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by Sani »

Amazon in advanced talks about putting HQ2 in Northern Virginia — Sounds like they're looking at Crystal City, across the Potomac from DC and just north of National Airport. Crystal City was developed in the mid- to late-70s as the Metro was being built, but many of the office buildings are now vacant.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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NY Times says Amazon is splitting its' second headquarters into two locations -- Crystal City, VA in the DC Metro, and Long Island City in the borough of Queens in New York City.

Amazon Plans to Split HQ2 in Two Locations

...
The company is nearing a deal to move to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, according to two of the people briefed on the discussions. Amazon is also close to a deal to move to the Crystal City area of Arlington, Va., a Washington suburb, one of the people said. Amazon already has more employees in those two areas than anywhere else outside of Seattle, its home base, and the Bay Area.
...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/tech ... OIE-P95j6I
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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Man, Long Island City is booming right now - The amount of development over the last 10 years in LIC has been insane
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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brewcrew1000 wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:05 am Man, Long Island City is booming right now - The amount of development over the last 10 years in LIC has been insane
It’s a great location. One subway stop from Central Park and tons cheaper than right across the river. The new Brooklyn.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by WoodDraw »

Lol so they're just opening two regional offices after all this bs. Amazon is the worst.
Last edited by WoodDraw on Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
earthling
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by earthling »

Is understandable though. In tight white collar labor market makes sense to divide between two metros. It doesn't sound like they planned this the whole time and later realized it would be hard to hire that many in one market. End result being regional offices rather than second HQ.

But overall, Amazon is becoming another Walmart if not worse, creating a fear culture work environment.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

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earthling wrote: Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:50 am Is understandable though. In tight white collar labor market makes sense to divide between two metros. It doesn't sound like they planned this the whole time and later realized it would be hard to hire that many in one market. End result being regional offices rather than second HQ.

But overall, Amazon is becoming another Walmart if not worse, creating a fear culture work environment.
You don't think they knew there would be labor shortages when they asked every city to put their best tax plan forward? And then somehow settled on DC and NY?

I don't buy it. They just did it to get good subsidies. Fuck Amazon.
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Re: Amazon searching for second HQ

Post by earthling »

^Yeah, agree they've been 'playing' all markets with the hype, but insiders claim they didn't plan two markets at the beginning.
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