Amazon planning second headquarters with 50,000 jobs

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-w...ployees-2015-8

It does sound like an exceptionally unpleasant workplace. Incentivizing employees to throw one another under the bus with annual culling of every team based on peer assessments must create a toxic work environment. And the fact that the median employee tenure is one year should temper expectations about the benefits to the host city. A great deal of the jobs will be people flying in from elsewhere for 10 or 15 months and then moving away again. The number of locals employed long-term would be small.

[Ozy_Flame]

Yeah that's one thing I would caution. People expecting a normal 9-5 day with a well-known tech/retail company would do well to do their research. This is a cutthroat place to work and people will step over each other to get jobs, promotions, and get noticed. Unless you're seasoned and higher up, this isn't cushy by any means - and a $100k will not be worth it for some.

Local Calgarians will see more benefit in industries/companies supporting the Amazon presence if anything.

[Table 5]

Amazon definitely seems to be on the extreme end of things, but I'm not sure that list is that crazily different than what I've experienced working in the US. It can definitely be an extremely demanding environment, where your whole life revolves around work. Rewarding in many ways, but with some severe compromises.

I do think think it would come as a shock to a lot of Calgarians used to the cushier O/G way of doing things. Perhaps the leaner times of the last few years would help people transition better, but if you've ever uttered the phrase "I work to live", Amazon will definitely not be a place for you.

[Hockeyguy15]

So basically no one posting on CP during work hours can work there.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by ah123

Somewhat related: Amazon is opening up a distribution centre in Balzac

http://calgaryherald.com/business/lo...ibution-centre

This is really going to confuse New Era who spent much of the thread convinced HQ2 was a distribution centre.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Local Calgarians will see more benefit in industries/companies supporting the Amazon presence if anything.

The rising tide will lift all boats. I mean... injecting that many high paying jobs into the local economy will create upward pressure on city wide wages.

Not that it likely matters... I mean all things being equal we have a 0.4% chance of landing HQ2 (regardless of how many bears we fight).

[Wormius]

What if.... we relocate nuisance bears to Amazon's Seattle headquarters?

Amazon remembers Calgary's generous bear fighting offer - HQ2 is ours!

Of course this could go horribly wrong, too. I mean, releasing bears into Amazon HQ could also be misinterpreted.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Parallex

The rising tide will lift all boats. I mean... injecting that many high paying jobs into the local economy will create upward pressure on city wide wages.

Not that it likely matters... I mean all things being equal we have a 0.4% chance of landing HQ2 (regardless of how many bears we fight).

Again, the $100,000 average salary was more of a marketing ploy. They qualified that with a statement that said they will pay market rates for similar jobs. If person working IT, HR or whatever in Calgary makes $60,000 a year, and amazon comes here, they won't be paying them $100,000.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Again, the $100,000 average salary was more of a marketing ploy. They qualified that with a statement that said they will pay market rates for similar jobs. If person working IT, HR or whatever in Calgary makes $60,000 a year, and amazon comes here, they won't be paying them $100,000.

I think people should also keep in mind, for every $500k salary it takes 11 $50k salaries to make the average salary dip below $100k. There will be a lot of good paying jobs created but the majority will earn less than $100k.

[GGG]

I don't get why that is a controversial number.

I suspect the head offices of all the oil Companies average salary on in that ball park.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Again, the $100,000 average salary was more of a marketing ploy. They qualified that with a statement that said they will pay market rates for similar jobs. If person working IT, HR or whatever in Calgary makes $60,000 a year, and amazon comes here, they won't be paying them $100,000.

Of course they won't all be 100K jobs... I don't think anyone thinks the Amazon janitors & admin assistants would be making 100K. It's 50K jobs that wouldn't otherwise be here... the decrease in labour supply will increase wages as companies compete for hires in a more limited labour pool.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Of course they won't all be 100K jobs... I don't think anyone thinks the Amazon janitors & admin assistants would be making 100K. It's 50K jobs that wouldn't otherwise be here... the decrease in labour supply will increase wages as companies compete for hires in a more limited labour pool.

I think there is a little bit of an overestimate on what the impact will be on wages and the economy.

I don't think Amazon's culture will translate to a Canadian market (not just Calgary). So if they did choose here things would have to change.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by GGG

I don't get why that is a controversial number.

I suspect the head offices of all the oil Companies average salary on in that ball park.

It’s not. I don’t know why people find it so unbelievable either. If you do (or have) worked in the tech industry, that number shouldn’t make you even blink.

[Table 5]

Even if the Amazon numbers are wildly optimistic, and they only bring in say, 15-20 thousand people, that would most likely still make them one of, if not the, largest private employers in Calgary.

And even if the salaries are lower than what they project, let's say at $65-75k, that is still higher than the average wage in this province. Keep in mind the average salary in Canada is under 50K.

Even if work life at Amazon is hard, and the employee/salary projections aren't as optimistic as they say they are, I don't see how it can be anything but a positive. Especially in a province where the dominant industry looks to be in a long-term decline.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Amazon definitely seems to be on the extreme end of things, but I'm not sure that list is that crazily different than what I've experienced working in the US. It can definitely be an extremely demanding environment, where your whole life revolves around work. Rewarding in many ways, but with some severe compromises.

I do think think it would come as a shock to a lot of Calgarians used to the cushier O/G way of doing things. Perhaps the leaner times of the last few years would help people transition better, but if you've ever uttered the phrase "I work to live", Amazon will definitely not be a place for you.

I made the switch from O/G to this type of environment, and yeah, shock was a pretty good way to describe my first month. If someone charts my CP posting history it's probably pretty clear when I made the switch... haha.

[Zoller]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

This is really going to confuse New Era who spent much of the thread convinced HQ2 was a distribution centre.

I've read so many comments on facebook of people who confuse this with HQ2. Everyone is praising the provincial government thinking this is related to what they've been hearing in the news the past few weeks.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Wormius

There are a lot of places that we order items from in the states that that can ship an order out almost immediately, and have it here before noon the next day. Just depends on your manpower and logistics setup.

Honestly, we probably don't think about it that much, and we love to complain, but I needed something badly from the UK the other day and shipped it with Fedex International Express. This is how it came in. Kinda crazy.

https://imgur.com/a/Wo3Kz

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by GGG

I don't get why that is a controversial number.

I suspect the head offices of all the oil Companies average salary on in that ball park.

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It’s not. I don’t know why people find it so unbelievable either. If you do (or have) worked in the tech industry, that number shouldn’t make you even blink.

I don’t think the number is that far off. But some of the hypotheticals, such as the tax reveniue figures, being used to argue how beneficial this will be to the city and why it’s worth giving amazon whatever they want to get them here, are being presented in a very misinforming manner. You almost get the sense from some people that they believe a company with amazons reputation wouldn’t go back on their word.

[Northendzone]

a few years ago i saw data first hand that suggested the average base salary at one of the bigger companies was ~$95,000

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Even if work life at Amazon is hard, and the employee/salary projections aren't as optimistic as they say they are, I don't see how it can be anything but a positive. Especially in a province where the dominant industry looks to be in a long-term decline.

There's hard and there's creating a toxic work environment, treating your employees like garbage and creating burnout. Amazon is the latter. It just sounds like they do not care at all about the people working those jobs.

It drives me crazy that we're grovelling for a company that acts this way. I find it a little sad. I'm really hoping we can attract some companies that are good employers with this little song and dance.

Make no mistake the job numbers are wildly optimistic. This is company is on the forefront of job automation. There will be fewer jobs with Amazon over time.

I really try to use Amazon as little as possible, I just find the way they treat people pretty gross. Obviously I have lots of products that were made by underappreciated employees but I try and keep it in mind when I purchase.