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Amazon Now Has More Than 341,000 Employees -- Added 110,000 People Last Year (geekwire.com)

Amazon added more than 110,000 employees during the past year, topping 341,000 people as of the end of 2016 thanks largely to a significant increase in the Seattle-based tech giant's network of fulfillment centers around the world and further expansion of its businesses in several overseas new markets. From a report: Amazon employed just 32,000 people globally five years ago. Amazon's net growth of more than 110,000 people during the past year almost rivals Microsoft's total employment of 120,000 people as of Dec. 31. That comparison of Microsoft and Amazon isn't apples-to-apples given the differences in their businesses, but it gives a sense of the scope of Amazon's employment base. Amazon employs about 40,000 people in Washington state, compared to 45,000 for Microsoft. Amazon doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The company said previously that it plans to add another 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. over the next 18 months.

12 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So that's bad, right? by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Unfortunately, these jobs pay about like Walmart employee.

    Jobs are good, but these trends in employment resonate on target with those who say we are the first generation in a long time who will not leave a better life for our children.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  2. Labor intensive jobs by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Jobs are good, but these trends in employment resonate on target with those who say we are the first generation in a long time who will not leave a better life for our children.

    Well that's what Trump wants. He wants to "bring back manufacturing jobs" to the US. Never mind that the factory jobs that left the US did so because of high labor rates and the only way to get them back and keep them is to pay people competitive wages... for China. So if you're good with paying people $2/hour then we can bring back all kinds of jobs. But they won't be ones with good wages. The ones with good wages aren't for slapping together happy meal toys.

    Now if you want high paying jobs then you have to invest in education, research, infrastructure, etc and train people to do jobs that are worth more than unskilled assembly work will ever justify.

    1. Re:Labor intensive jobs by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Never mind that the factory jobs that left the US did so because of high labor rates and the only way to get them back and keep them is to pay people competitive wages... for China.

      Manufacturing jobs are returning to the US because labor is getting too expensive in China, as Chinese workers want a middle class lifestyle. But the new factories in the US require fewer workers and those workers must possess a college degree, eliminating the vast majority of Trump voters who are eagerly waiting for the 1980's manufacturing jobs to return.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/education/edlife/factory-workers-college-degree-apprenticeships.html

    2. Re:Labor intensive jobs by GLMDesigns · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Jobs didn't leave the US simply because of high labor rates but also taxation. Sometimes we create unnecessary regulatory hurdles. and considering the lackadaisical response by the bureaucracy you can't be surprised.

      Example in some places you need to have signs approved by a board that meets once a month. (I have been part of this process)

      The rational solution would be (if you want regulations) to have the requirements clearly laid out. Example: The sign

      may be no bigger than x
      allowable fonts are:
      allowable colors are:
      sign must include x and y with a font size no smaller than z.

      Should company want something difference then they can go and get a variance.

      When you simplify things to simply "labor" costs you are missing the crux of the matter.

      How long it takes to open a store, and the hurdles you have to jump through, is FAR more expensive and FAR more off-putting than you think.

      --
      If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
      Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
    3. Re:Labor intensive jobs by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 2

      Manufacturing jobs are returning to the US because labor is getting too expensive in China, as Chinese workers want a middle class lifestyle.

      While that is not wrong that Chinese workers want a middle class lifestyle, there is more to manufacturing jobs leaving China than that. To get manufacturing started there, the Chinese government offered huge tax incentives to foreign companies willing to set up shop. China has now acquired enough internal expertise to make a lot of those things themselves, such as TVs for example, so the tax incentives and other things done to bring in the foreigners are going away so that they can shift more and more production to Chinese owned companies. I read an article today that said that foreign companies can still get good deals on manufacturing in China but only if they are willing to go to what were called third tier cities.

  3. Re:So that's bad, right? by blahbooboo · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately, these jobs pay about like Walmart employee.

    Jobs are good, but these trends in employment resonate on target with those who say we are the first generation in a long time who will not leave a better life for our children.

    Which generation is that? They've been saying "this generation won't do as well as their parents" since after the baby boomers...

  4. 100,000 more jobs in the next 18 months by ddtmm · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure I'd bet on 100,000 more jobs in the next 18 months until I see how things go after Trump closes the door on cheap imports from China with heavy tariffs.

  5. Re:So that's bad, right? by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Who are they? It probably depends on where you live.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  6. Re:So that's bad, right? by darthsilun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Unfortunately, these jobs pay about like Walmart employee.

    Jobs are good, but these trends in employment resonate on target with those who say we are the first generation in a long time who will not leave a better life for our children.

    What do you expect after 8 years of trying to "remake our economy"...

    trying? No credit for rebuilding after the greatest collapse since the collapse in 1929? No credit for the stock market not just recovering, but at record highs? No credit for unemployment falling to under 5% (Yes, we all know that's funny counting, but when unemployment was over 10% in 2008, that was funny counting then too.)

    I don't know how your 401K is doing, but mine has grown 10% per year, on average, over the last eight years. That's exclusive of what I've added over the last eight years.

    ... in ways that make close-minded, sheltered, WHITE suburban "progressives" happy?

    versus the close-minded, sheltered white suburban conservatives? Frankly you don't win points by being patronizing.

    "Drive for $15"? So what if it makes minority workers with no skills

    That's your code word for blacks and hispanics, yes?

    because they come out of failed schools

    whose fault is that?

    too expensive to compete in the labor market, thus locking them into a cycle of poverty?

    so your solution is to keep them in poverty anyway. So they can stay on SNAP at the rest of our expense? indefinitely.

    And BTW, $15/hour seems to work just fine in, e.g., Europe and Australia. Somehow they can still sell a Whopper combo for $5 while paying the worker bees a decent wage that doesn't require them to also be on food assistance in order to survive.

    It makes sheltered white suburban "progressives" feel good about themselves.

    again, not winning points. I'm pretty sure I'm not sheltered. I feel good about doing good things. Some would label them Christian things. You probably call yourself a Christian. If you do, I'd probably label you a hypocrite.

    "War on coal"? So what if it regressively makes electricity more expensive and disproportionately hurting the poor, it makes sheltered white suburban "progressives" feel good about themselves.

    I'm sensing a theme. Did "progressives" abuse you as a child or something? Back on topic. Yeah, keep your head buried in the sand. Ignore the science. Let's keep burning coal – because it's cheap, and it'll keep a few thousand coal miners in West Virginia employed. Keeping them employed like this probably will end up being the most expensive welfare ever when the climate really starts to warm up. But sure, you won, we're get over it. Well, until we win again. Will you get over it like you told us to?

    "Ban fracking!" So what if it regressively makes energy, food, and everything else more expensive and limits job growth for the growing US population, it makes sheltered white suburban "progressives" feel good about themselves.

    You have a real jones going on for sheltered white suburban progressives, don't you? I'm beginning to think that you're either Kellyann Conway or Steve Bannon.

    You need to lay off the Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart, and Faux News for awhile. You'd be surprised how good it feels once you're not being brainwashed with that drivel. You'll be amazed at how good you feel when you start thinking for yourself again.

    But back to the topic at hand: So instead you propose we should keep energy, food, and everything else artificially less expensive while simultaneously destroying the environment because you don't believe the science.

    Yeah it's real tough to take you seriously. Have a nice day Kellyann.

  7. Re:So that's bad, right? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

    Go ahead and type "software" into that search box at the top of the page. Doesn't look quite like slave wages from here. Yeah, I know that most of the jobs are warehouse type jobs, and they don't pay much. I'm guessing that's why, when I was a kid, my father told me to get an education so I could work with my brain instead of my back.

    On the other hand, at least until recently, working with your brain at Amazon seems to have its own challenges -- Amazon promises to change its 'Hunger Games' employee review process. Don't know if things are any better yet. I'd make a President Snow -- Jeff Bezos comparison joke, but the hair is all wrong.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  8. Re:i love min wage no benefits and crap hours too by JustBoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ummmmmm YOU WILL LIKE IT TOO OR ELSE-----trump

    now everyone can has job

    You are deeply confused. This was the result of Obamacare. Part-time Low Paying Jobs for Everyone! Because employers could no longer afford healthcare for their workers. Read. Learn. Understand.

  9. Re:i love min wage no benefits and crap hours too by Ginguin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's not that they can't afford healthcare for their workers, it's that they don't value their workers enough to care (i.e. putting profit and bonuses before their worker's well-being). They have a large base of people who are desperate for any sort of work just to survive. Many workers are competing for the job. The companies are not competing to hire their workers. Yes, some of us have the knowledge, skills, and references we need to find better, higher-paying jobs where companies are competing for us, but not everyone has that option. Just because we can treat our workers like shit doesn't mean we should.

    --
    "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a targeted advertisement" - Adam Harvey