Amazon and the Economics of National Failure

At The Atlantic, yet another account of Amazon's insides. It's not pretty. This sort of thing is standard practice across all industries though. It's the devaluation of the American economy. They cut costs by cutting worker pay to offer lower prices and increase profit margins and, particularly, market share. In reality though, companies are creating their own worst competition in the form of downward pricing pressures by firing workers and cutting worker pay, thus lowering consumer demand. We're in a downward spiral, and here's how on Seattle Amazon worker explains it:

In Nevada, warehouse workers were getting $5.15 an hour and people had to work 12-hour shifts, five days a week. Mandated overtime pay didn't start until after 40 hours of a workweek. So when production lulled people were sent home or told not to come in the following day to shave costs. These were the new models. This was the future. 

Shaving overtime by sending people home mid-shift, or giving them "the next few days off," was the practice in Seattle too, but in Nevada there was no velvet glove, no nod to personal identity. Workers there were herded through long security lines and body searched on their way in and out before they could clock in. The ventilation was terrible and they got fired for the slightest complaint-at least these were the reports. 

Some managers who had been sent out to these warehouses and had expressed concerns were fired. So were the managers who cast doubt on Bezos' plan for mechanization. A few of them wrote a heartfelt letter to Jeff one night, and that was the end. 

Everywhere we saw the movement of a new plan, something I was told Bezos and his upper echelon developed sequestered away in a wooded camp. Bezos apparently had a weakness for coded project names and, according to several of the longtime workers this one was originally, "Project Fargo." But some of Bezos' closest team had seen problems and voiced them. They, too, were fired.

When in doubt, eliminate anyone with a conscience. Consumer demand is the problem today, and it's not being addressed in the private sector at all. You just cannot increase consumer demand by lowering consumer wages and firing people.