I honestly wouldn't be surprised.

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i thought this was known for a while... they don't let their employees pee and they are forced to work during tornadoes

It's Amazon. Warehouse workers are treated like dirt. However people still admire how Bezos is so successful.

Robots are way more expensive to replace.

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 91%. (I'm a bot)

> Two Amazon workers, who are members of the GMB, said the robots in the warehouse "Are treated better than us".

> Workers at the Coventry warehouse scan stock which is sent out to Amazon fulfilment centres, to be shipped to consumers.

> Amazon has been battling against unionisation in the US. More than half of the 8,000 workers at a warehouse on Staten Island, New York, voted to join the Amazon Labor Union which has now been officially certified.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Amazon^#1 work^#2 Westwood^#3 want^#4 time^#5

Of course they are. Do you know how expensive it is to repair or replace a broken robot? And how cheap and easy it is to replace a dead worker? /polemic

If the robots break Amazon has to pay to replace them

Luckily most people are well beyond admiring the worlds best bloodsucking leaches

They are.

China is replacing Chinese workforce with robots.

Saying they're expensive and seeing the cheap labor pool being replaced by them is at odds.

Article is about workers in the UK, not China.

Robots need to be depreciated before they can be replaced. Workers not.

Of course they are. Robots are expensive.

Of humans and robots, we only fear one of them uprising.

Well, would you rather have high human turn-over, or a robot rebellion? Amazon's just trying to protect the human race!

Polemic - a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something. TIL

i barely buy anything from amazon now, it's all ebay.

1. what i usually look for on amazon is either low or out of stock or only available used or from overseas.
2. same item(s) on ebay for cheaper.
3. fuck amazon.

the workers deserve better pay and conditions. saw the news this morning and one guy said they monitor you constantly and question you if you take too long doing anything even going for a loo break.

Where? I'm looking for a job.

They need replaced much less frequently, don't complain, and their upkeep is stable.

And they don't complain, or take breaks, holidays etc.

Occasionally a part will wear out or break, that's it... For menial tasks, they're just the better solution.

The Ludites have a solution for this…

They have to pay to replace/fix robots, the workers they can just fire or entrust the government to 'fix them' which all entail no/(little) cost to them as a business.

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Man not gonna lie, this comment can be interpreted so many ways.

I love it as it's truelly deep yet nuance.

and they don't carry peebottle around

I heard the only birthday celebrations are for the robots. No more human celebrating.

And in other news people keep taking jobs at Amazon after thousands of articles about poor working conditions.

Robots are CAPEX, an investment, an asset. Hiring and wages and benefits are OPEX, a cost.

Nah, I work in the industry and it works like this:

The cost of a robot station is usually compared to the total cost of a labor in 2-3years during a single shift.

After that time the robot is like a ‘free’ worker (minus the maintenance and energy).

I wouldn't say most people :( I wish that were the case

Business capital expenditure is also tax deductible.

That's basically the new normal for almost every business doing repetitive tasks.

Also don't get children. And can work 24/7

Far more loyal and don't want to leave to sleep or eat. Willing to work long hours.

Not when you look at the full picture. Robots cost a lot up front (unlike humans) but can work 24/7 (unlike humans). They don't complain, go on strike, ask to use the bathroom, demand pay raises... They don't demand pay at all!

Humans are cheap to replace but have long term costs that never end. Robots are the complete opposite.

Chinese labor costs have skyrocketed.

And they don't even complain or compare themselves to other robots. They simply do their job, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, pulling the never ending orders off of high stacked shevles, preventing falls and crush injuries. It's almost like automation is the most appropriate form of warehouse operations in the current economy. I wonder what they complaining would look like if amazon replaced all their robots with ladders.

Of course, robots are company property. Employees are spendable

That's because the robot to be feared is one that, ruthlessly and efficiently, does exactly what it's told, considering the morals of its industrialist owner.

Early adoption. The price will come down as technology improves and the way to drive that innovation is using it.

Also, they don't need to be tracked and assessed a Social Credit score. I mean, yet, wait till AI "improves"

I'm not sure how many people admire him. Other elite rich assholes, maybe.

Being envious and wishing they had what he did, that's another story.

Alert the accountants - they are capital assets so there are likely a bunch of tax/accounting maneuvers that add value to their use.

> Humans are cheap to replace but have long term costs that never end. Robots are the complete opposite.

I mean, robots have long term costs that never end, too. Gotta do maintenance on them, otherwise you end up replacing the robot for a lot more than the maintenance costs in the long run.

So do you think we are going to create a society where everything is taken care of robots and we are left to philosophical, artistic, and scientific pursuits or will the wealthy hord everything and tell everyone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

You can just add another thread to a robot. It's like adding another worker.

There's no reason for humans to be doing that kind of thing tbh. We're much better at hunting and running

Even then, might be considered "free" as power and parts storage is considered a sunk cost.

Der Gerät macht nie Urlaub.

Sentient AI blames itself for it's parents killing themselves.

Why do people still work for Amazon? There's so many horror stories. If less people went to work for them, shit would improve.

In theory of course

There's going to be a "my robot is better than your robot" conflict.

Please tell me the robots don't have a dental plan. I don't like the idea of robots with organic teeth.

Right up until the Robot Rebellion.

Yea were no where near that... Yet.

Amazon: Well the robots work harder, take less breaks, and don't complain

even with UBI, the issue is making sure everybody does something productive instead of just sitting on their asses Wall-E style

'I can't stand X-297843D. It's such an ass kisser'

Can anyone explain to me why someone would work for a knowingly evil company and then complain about how they are treated? If the company is already scummy then why would you not expect to be treated scummy?

Domo Arigato.

That's the thing. There will be no need to keep people productive. It will take a huge cultural shift for sure. A focus more on self improvement, experiencing new things, and sharing those experiences.

What's worse? Some of the population becoming super lazy or making all the population do pointless menial labor because that's what we've always done to keep production up?

Well, yes and no ;)

If we go deeper there is more then just the cost of labor.

Industrial robots are mostly used for a high volume production of a single element of a product. The main advantage over human worker is accuracy and consistency not just the cost. For some industries the tolerance for an error is like 5 per 1.000.000 meaning the manufacturer’s customer may return the whole batch of a product if he finds more problems. The penalty for this scenario is very high, so it makes sense to use a robot that does not make mistakes like we humans would do even if it costs more.

Next, robots are also much faster, allowing for a higher output in a given time. There is also the rhythm that allows for a precise timing of logistics to feed the machines.

There is more, usually application specific.

In general robots are ‘cheaper’ at scale. For small batches or flexible procedures humans are better choice.

Quote from Andor: "We're cheaper than droids and easier to replace."

In reality, droids will soon be cheaper and easier to replace. If we get a chatGPT breakthrough in vision recognition, voice and language recognition (almost there), motion and some fundamental reasoning (with a translation layer of vision to concepts, we're almost there too), humans are simply no longer needed for labor.

OK man, just because something is more expensive initially, does not mean that it isn't more efficient and cost effective in the long term

I 100% believe that they have overwhelmingly acceptable working conditions otherwise people would just not work there. I will never believe that a company is able to deliver packages within a day with unhappy workers. Mostly it's unions (businesses) and media (other businesses) trying to make money of a hot topic.

After reading the rest of the comments I am changing my opinion to prevent massive downvotes. Fuck this company!

That is until the inevitable robot uprising

And it doesn't feel pity, remorse, or fear. It absolutely won't stop until your small item is in a large package.

I'm an engineer (not for amazon) but it would seem I've hedged my bets nicely, workers aren't needed, but I fix the replacements...

Be nice to legal and accounting.

I read somewhere a few years ago, that parking meters in central london earn more than the minimum wage.

Lets face it. All were doing is building a robot powered walled garden city for the elite. As soon as the rich doesnt need our labour, theyll let us starve from climate change while they send out robot dogs with guns to stop us from trying to enter.

I err... I fix and build the robots, sorry?

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What about the other people who arent as good as you are? Im happy you have the job, but not everyone is cut out to be a robotics engineer.

And it is coming.

Until they become sentient and kill you and take your wife to breed her and produce humans to serve them. Yeah, it gets that deep.

Also get three square oils a day.

As good as I am? I'm an idiot... I can fix and build things you can't, I'm sure there's a billion things you can do that I can't.

What about the other people? I don't know... I just build and fix things.

Maybe... But both of us will be dead before it does, have you seen chatgpt and what not and got a bit scared? Don't be, it's not that.

Can I have some of whatever it is you've been smoking, sounds amazing.

In the US you can buy insurance on your workers too if they die.

Doubtful. Robots will kill us because of a human programming error long before then. It'll probably something stupid, like properly terminating a while loop.

Yes, but not all those skills are useful in an economy with a high degree of automation. Alot of people just cant compete with robots, just look at the car industry.

OK... Sorry I guess? What do you want me to say?

Well, dont act like everyone is going to integrate flawlessly into the new robotic and automated economy. Which is the message I got from you your "well i build and maintain the machines".

No horse ever said "motorcars will give us horses better jobs".

This reads like an Onion headline from 2011.

To be honest mate, I don't really give a fuck about other people and their integration, if I make a robot that puts you out of a job, sucks to be you.

Get good 👍

Yeah, it’s a joint called “fk with shit you’ll regret”. Lots of folks smoked it before: dude that invented 401k, etc.

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#LearnToCode /s

RRF is recruiting heavily in the tech sector

RRF is recruiting heavily in the tech sector

Robots offer an excellent tax advantage, following a strict depreciation schedule, replacement costs are tax deductible.

And have you seen these robots? I mean...if I could afford one I'd have one...

Youll change your tune when its you getting axed. Thats how it always goes.

>Of course they are. Do you know how expensive it is to repair or replace a broken robot?

Guess ChatGPT can take my sarcasm as well.

"And my anger!"

"And my need to know!"

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I do. To the penny. I used to do that for a living, right up until I had a coronary event on the Kiva floor.

Buy a roomba, a bottle-jack, and a roll of duct tape. Make your own.

Hard to imagine a robot having to pee in a bottle.

Which more then covers the cost in terms of length of time that it takes to train an employee. The time is essentially at parity.

Yes, but modern management is about reducing OPEX.

So win win

Of course I'll be bummed if someone invents a thing to make me redundant, I can't see that happening soon though, but never say never.

"Around 300 staff walked out..." well I guess 178 is around 300. Also fails to say this is out of 2000 employed at Coventry

you laugh now but the AI jihad will happen eventually

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