
A large proportion of Amazon's US fulfillment-centre workers are on food stamps - leoc
https://theintercept.com/2018/04/19/amazon-snap-subsidies-warehousing-wages/
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csense
So Amazon's business brings a bunch of low-skill jobs to depressed areas of
the country that have been hit by decades of job loss and wage stagnation.
(Driven in recent years partly by the Internet's effects on retail, led by
Amazon itself.)

Why is it surprising that they're so flooded with applicants that they can get
away with offering not much more than minimum wage?

Why is it surprising that people who work such low-wage jobs can't make ends
meet without government assistance?

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chapium
This article is framed to shame amazon for having so many employees who rely
on SNAP. It could be framed to laud them for employing so many who are poor.
It could also be completely neutral: Amazon hires unskilled labor for
unskilled jobs.

Blaming and shaming does make for a saucy read however.

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s2g
> It could be framed to laud them for employing so many who are poor

Oh yes, so good of Jeff to become the worlds richest man by exploiting some of
the most vulnerable people in our society.

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muddi900
Such genorisity so I can get ping pong balls in 2 days

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Fjolsvith
There's no one forcing those food stamp recipients to work at Amazon. I do
believe that there are other, better paying jobs they can get.

And if they can qualify for food stamps, I'm sure they could qualify for
student loans/grants that would put them out of the low-skill job arena...

Edit: ...Unless they wasted their education on some worthless degree.

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BigTex420
I used to work at Amazon. Hourly workers make significantly more than minimum
wage.

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toomuchtodo
How much specifically?

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s2g
I'm very happy to see this type of thing getting more attention.

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JauntTrooper
12% of Americans are in food stamps.

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BigTex420
14.5% of Americans live below the poverty line

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BigTex420
Seeing a few other sources that say other numbers (all above 12%, however)

