Amazon?

[GeneV]

I just cancelled my Amazon Prime yesterday. It was up for renewal this week.
I'll see how it goes for the next few months. I hope I can do without it.

Daaaamn, going commando!

 

[Jstpssng]

I know that I’m preaching to the choir here. Many people would do better attending a couple-tech school rather than college, at least for their first post HS education.

 

[sree251]

This is what many fail to understand about Amazon's business model and success - it has nothing to do with price, it's all about service and convenience. It's like having a personal shopper where you can tell it you need to buy this random list of things, then instead of you having to spend your day driving to Walmart, then the hardware store, then over to Tractor Supply and then maybe the grocery store where they may have what you need but maybe not, it does all that for you and drops it all off on your doorstep the next day. The same day in some cases. And if you're not happy with anything you bought just drop it back in the mail and your money is refunded immediately no questions asked. Add in the Prime streaming and it's a deal of the century no-brainer.

What is Amazon's reach? Can I get the same service and convenience when I move to a rural place away from the city?

When I was property hunting in West Virginia, I was up on a mountain road after turning off a country road. I felt a little cut off from humanity as I drove through wooded terrain with steep drops from the road edge. The land was beautiful though. I got out off my car to take a look at the valley below filled with round bales of hay. All of a sudden, a UPS truck came trundling past at a fast clip and disappeared round the corner churning up a trail of dry leaves. My spirit lifted. Corporate America was everywhere.

 

[sree251]

I know that I’m preaching to the choir here. Many people would do better attending a couple-tech school rather than college, at least for their first post HS education.

Not if you want a fast track to the stars. Guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates couldn't even wait to get their degrees before scooting out of college. Back then, we were like race horses champing at the bit fidgeting to burst out of the starting gates.

 

[sree251]

That's probably the understatement of the year. Finding a competent employee was hard before, it's all but impossible now especially if you're doing anything that requires a certain amount of skill and intelligence. IMO that's the real reason you see the wealth gap continue to widen and so many protesting about jobs and money - there just aren't enough smart, skilled people in the general population to fill all the needs of the modern workplace so you have a bunch of businesses desperate for employees yet there are still tons of people who can't find a job that pays a decent living. The gap there is just too large.

Being competent as a new hire and an employee is not the big challenge, in my opinion. Getting the boss to like you means everything. Arrogance is a boss killer, and kids I now see spilling out of high schools and piling into their cars are really a sight. Parents these days are raising clones like themselves: obnoxious. Prime candidates for firing when the bosses they work for have had the fill of them.

 

[jyoutz]

I know that I’m preaching to the choir here. Many people would do better attending a couple-tech school rather than college, at least for their first post HS education.

It all depends on the desired career field. But college or vocational tech are pretty much necessary for a decent career today.

 

[ning]

It all depends on the desired career field. But college or vocational tech are pretty much necessary for a decent career today.

College is more or less required, but definitely not necessary, for most careers.

 

[jyoutz]

College is more or less required, but definitely not necessary, for most careers.

It’s NECESSARY for STEM careers.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It's nice to see the union movement gaining steam again. Apple employees are switching to android phones and encrypting their messages to keep their employer from disrupting union organizing. I have been shocked at the number of workers who voluntarily gave up the 40 hour work week. Employers expect them to be available 24/7 and put in 60 hours a week. It's time to put a leash on that BS.

 

[ning]

It’s NECESSARY for STEM careers.

I don't have a degree, and a majority of what I use in my (software engineering) stem career (at one of the biggest companies) is self-taught. I've had many colleagues with phd's and many with no degree and to be honest, there's not a ton of difference in their work.

In biochem and engineering professions, I've little doubt that the degree hunt teaches required knowledge, but in today's workplace, I stand by my assertion that *most* careers don't *need* college degrees.

 

[jyoutz]

I don't have a degree, and a majority of what I use in my (software engineering) stem career (at one of the biggest companies) is self-taught. I've had many colleagues with phd's and many with no degree and to be honest, there's not a ton of difference in their work.

In biochem and engineering professions, I've little doubt that the degree hunt teaches required knowledge, but in today's workplace, I stand by my assertion that *most* careers don't *need* college degrees.

Tell that to your doctor, dentist or electrical engineer. I’m in the biological science field and I can unequivocally say that advanced science isn’t taught in HS or learned on the job. Lots of people are self taught in the computer industry, but few other STEM careers are.

 

[Oaktree]

It's nice to see the union movement gaining steam again. Apple employees are switching to android phones and encrypting their messages to keep their employer from disrupting union organizing. I have been shocked at the number of workers who voluntarily gave up the 40 hour work week. Employers expect them to be available 24/7 and put in 60 hours a week. It's time to put a leash on that BS.

Most of the "BS" is self inflicted. How many people under 50 can bear to be away from their cellphones for even 5 minutes? I have never had an employer who expected me to be available 24/7 other than jobs where being on call was part of the job. No one can take advantage of you without your consent.

As for unionization at tech companies, good luck with that. How many techies are going to put up with the BS that goes along with union membership...rigidly defined job descriptions, seniority, etc?

I don't have a degree, and a majority of what I use in my (software engineering) stem career (at one of the biggest companies) is self-taught. I've had many colleagues with phd's and many with no degree and to be honest, there's not a ton of difference in their work.

In biochem and engineering professions, I've little doubt that the degree hunt teaches required knowledge, but in today's workplace, I stand by my assertion that *most* careers don't *need* college degrees.

I agree. I have only an associates degree, it's a piece of paper that some opened doors for my first "real" job. From then on it was up to me to run with it, after the first 5-6 years it was pretty much irrelevant...I could either do the job or I couldn't. Most of what got me thru were skills/knowledge I picked up along the way, not much was stuff I learned from a book.
Like you, I've worked with plenty of people who were more educated than me. Some were better at what they did, others not so much.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Most of the "BS" is self inflicted. How many people under 50 can bear to be away from their cellphones for even 5 minutes? I have never had an employer who expected me to be available 24/7 other than jobs where being on call was part of the job. No one can take advantage of you without your consent.

As for unionization at tech companies, good luck with that. How many techies are going to put up with the BS that goes along with union membership...rigidly defined job descriptions, seniority, etc?

I suspect we are on the verge of a 2nd Great Depression. It won't be long until we're back into the "You're lucky to have a job, so shut up and color," routine. Hard times are always bad for labor and great for organizing.

 

[Jstpssng]

I suspect we are on the verge of a 2nd Great Depression. It won't be long until we're back into the "You're lucky to have a job, so shut up and color," routine. Hard times are always bad for labor and great for organizing.

I fear that you are right. Diesel topped 4.00$/gallon today and the rise is just getting started. That alone has the potential to blow the top off the economy... including Amazon.

 

[jyoutz]

I fear that you are right. Diesel topped 4.00$/gallon today and the rise is just getting started. That alone has the potential to blow the top off the economy... including Amazon.

It will be like the last time diesel was at $4. Much less shipping cross country by truck and much more railroad transportation.

 

[JDZ735M]

It's nice to see the union movement gaining steam again. Apple employees are switching to android phones and encrypting their messages to keep their employer from disrupting union organizing. I have been shocked at the number of workers who voluntarily gave up the 40 hour work week. Employers expect them to be available 24/7 and put in 60 hours a week. It's time to put a leash on that BS.

I have always worked from 'can 'til can't' until the job is done.

But I also had a flexible schedule that I set and I came and went as I pleased as long as the job was done right and on time.

Not for everyone, obviously, but I did well with a less structured, results oriented work format.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Technical people will always have a job. Not keen on unions, but some places they are needed.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Did I say that you were being evil? You've were talking about what people make, yet have been all over the board about what & how you pay your help. I merely pointed that if you are paying 20$/hr and giving them 1099s, they are making much less than if they were employees.

Wow. I said if they aren't contracted employees I pay them at least $20 an hour and sometimes much, much more. W2 employees are those people making just over $1600 per year.

You are reading in something I never said.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Technical people will always have a job. Not keen on unions, but some places they are needed.

My view has been that unions are good if your boss is a jerk and bad if your boss is great!

 

[hornett22]

I stop using amazon when they went woke.