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Economy
Amazon ups hourly wage to $15, will advocate for higher pay
2018-10-02
[ABC] Amazon, which has faced political and economic pressure to raise pay for thousands of employees, is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month and said it will push for an increase in the federally mandated minimum wage, which now stands at $7.25 per hour.

"We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO.

The wage hike will go into effect as Amazon hires more than 100,000 holiday workers to pack and ship goods in its warehouses. Employers are facing the tightest job market in nearly two decades, making it more difficult to lure workers who have a lot more choices about taking a job than just a year ago.
Posted by:Besoeker

#9  I really don't know where this piss bottle story comes from. I've never seen anyone be told they have to ask permission to go to the bathroom. The main thing people bitch about in our building is there are no bathrooms on the second floor. Nobody took my suggestion of installing fireman poles by the bathroom since going down is more important than climbing back up the stairs.
You can get written up for time off task but I think this would apply to someone who takes several hour or 2 "bathroom breaks". The people you really have to be worried about doing stuff like that is your co- workers that have to slow down because you are f-ing off. Case in point at the sort center somebody managed to scan a whopping 5 packages an hour. The manager made a point of saying don't worry about me worry about your co-workers bitching to me about it.
IMAO, Amazon does have its flaws but it isn't a terrible place to work. If you wanted something as first job I would recommend it since other employers seem to be impressed by you working there. Working during peak is where things can really get crazy. You never know when things are going to suddenly go completely crazy.
Posted by: Thrise Shomble3667   2018-10-02 16:57  

#8  Yeah, buy the code and OPS, RIF the talent.
Can't wait for the Pakis and Indians to get at it.
Posted by: Skidmark   2018-10-02 16:21  

#7  $15.00 an hour huh? Do you gotta buy your own piss bottles?
Posted by: USN, Ret.    2018-10-02 15:29  

#6  Having worked through three peaks, my 2cents. This is being rolled out just in time for Peak. Locally there are a lot of HELP WANTED signs up at every fast food place I visit. I hurt my foot so I tried to get a lawn service to cut my grass but to no avail. Amazon also doesn't work in a vacum. Last year Walmart was hiring seasonal workers at a higher pay rate than Amazon. The Walmart.com warehouse is huge. When it opened I stopped at Burger King across the road and they were out of eggs!
Automation can only do so much. If you see how the Fulfilled by Amazon comes in you would need an Azimov type robot to deal with all the strange ways things are packed. Also a failure in automation can shut down the entire building, People can work around problems.
One of the main beefs people had with Amazon was that people woking there had the pay determined by the average retail worker wages rather than the average warehouse worker's. Where I work there are often signs advertising for warehouse workers saying things like $30 a hour with small print saying "up to".
So I will see what this means to me in November when this takes effect. Predidtion by next year people will be griping about pay.
Posted by: Thrise Shomble3667   2018-10-02 14:16  

#5  This is a PR stunt.

Maybe. It is true that Amazon is automating the hell out of anything they can.

But there is more going on as well. Near as I can tell, the economy is ramping up. Demand for workers is up, especially since a lot of people left the labor market during the Dread Obama Years. Classical economics predicts that if there is a shortage of something, the price for it will rise.

Note that this is NOT the same as an artificially inflated 'minimum wage'.
Posted by: SteveS   2018-10-02 13:54  

#4  Amazon is already well on the way to automating every job they can. Wage increases just hasten the pace. This is a PR stunt.
Posted by: Elmogum Dark Lord of the Wee Folk6272   2018-10-02 13:05  

#3  As near as I can tell about $ 12.00/hr is near the floor even in low income areas these days. Welcome to all the inflation everyone says isn't going on.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2018-10-02 12:19  

#2  boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour

Hiring more illegals?

Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-10-02 11:41  

#1  Buying good PR in an competitive labor environment. You have to raise it to get the better employees. Adam Smith's invisible hand, not the heavy hand of government fiats (see - Venezuela).
Posted by: P2kontheroad   2018-10-02 11:38  

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