Posted on 05/08/2016 7:03:16 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
vAmazon giveth, and Amazon taketh.
The giant internet retailer said on April 27 that it will create 2,000 full-time jobs by opening two more fulfillment centers in New Jersey.
One will be a 600,000-square-foot facility in Florence, Burlington County, generating 500 new jobs.
The other will be an 800,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Carteret, Middlesex County, that will generate about 1,500 jobs.
Together, the two facilities will bring Amazon's total physical footprint in the Garden State to 2.5 million square feet of space, if you count three existing centers.
The irony is that Amazon made the announcement the day after a news report that retailers were prepping to lay off 37,000 workers this year, due largely to the shuttering of brick-and-mortar stores.
The 37,000 is the most in one year since the 2008 recession - and more than double the number of layoffs in 2015.
Online shopping is the cause, led by Amazon.com.
E-commerce sales nationally - which included catalog sales - were up 14.6 percent in 2015 from the previous year, while retail sales for physical stores rose by a fraction of that - just 1.4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Moody's senior retail analyst Charles O'Shea said: "We expect more square footage reductions going forward as online sales are growing faster than brick-and-mortar for virtually all non-food retailers."
Some observers say the retail layoffs signify the industry's realignment.
Surely, some of those losing their jobs in "real stores" will be hired to do something else, such as filling carts with online orders at an Amazon fulfillment center versus restocking shelves.
Mike Roth, Amazon's vice president of North America operations, said the new Carteret facility "will offer wages 30 percent higher than traditional retail stores and include benefits, bonuses, and stock options."
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
When I suggested this was going to happen a few years ago people laughed.
.....hired to do something else, such as filling carts with online orders at an Amazon fulfillment center versus restocking shelves
Buggy whip industry
I love my Amazon.
As much as I detest Jeff Bezos...he built a better mousetrap.
The brick an mortar store sales people don’t have the ability to negotiate prices.
I can negotiate with Amazon. I look at an item, and a few days later it’s a few bucks less, and maybe a week or so later it’s a few more less, until it reaches a point where I am willing to buy.
I go into a a Sears, or Lowes, Home Depot etc, and the retail price today is posted. Either pay it or don’t. IF the price is too high they never investigate what it’s going to take to close the deal. That is the model they are missing.
Most places in the world, prices on virtually everything are negotiable.
The giant internet retailer said on April 27 that it will create 2,000 full-time jobs by opening two more fulfillment centers in New Jersey.
Does this mean Jersey has not run afoul of the LGBT activists, who were shocked, just shocked, that North Carolina passed a law saying men go to the men’s room, women go to the ladies room? Is Jersey sufficiently liberal for Amazon??? Is Amazon run by liberals???
Probably Amazon, just like the switch from American brands of cars in the 1980's never reversed since then. Once shoppers get used to buying on-line, there won't be any going back. It will be like Uber instead of a cab stand.
Good points which I never thought about. But I’ve done the same thing you mention, browse online for something, and decide not to buy. But then I get an email later, asking if I’m still interested, and here’s the price now.
Maybe my experience was on Ebay, not Amazon; I’ve bought a number of items from each site. But your point is well taken.
In my case - at 70 years old - between going into town after dark becoming dangerous, and the pouty, rude, and ignorant sales people in stores, shopping on line is much better.
For instance, a woman with attitude working at the local lawn mower parts house wanted $70 for a lawn mower blade...$70, for a blade. I found it online for $25, and it was delivered to my front door.
Shopping online is the wave of the future.
And considering how frustrated many on this site are about shopping malls, and the bad clientele some malls have nowadays, and the whole decline of the shopping experience in malls, online shopping will only continue to grow.
It’s been happening for 20 years. That’s why all the malls have been dying.
Mot retail locations have turned into flea markets: Disorganized, stale inventories, and lacking of quantities.
Why pay companies for Chinese made products?
They cut Americans out of making the products, buy direct online from China and cut out the companies. Most companies Chinese products for $1 and sell to Americans for $50.
That’s more an effect than a cause.
When the Border’s book store near my office was about to close, they were selling their books at 30 to 40% discount.
I quickly went to their technical books section to see if I could buy computer books that I wanted at a huge discount.
I took note of the price and then went back to the internet to look at the prices of the same at Amazon.
Guess what? It was till cheaper at Amazon even when Border’s was discounting them for sale while closing.
We have a zero sum economy or a less than zero sum economy. So others must shrink while Amazon expands. On my own purchases from Amazon I find them making many mistakes. They then throw some Amazon credits to me as their way of apologizing. The USPS messes up/loses a delivery? Amazon credits it back to my cc card....and the package shows up five days later. In fact Amazon messaged me and flat out said that rather deal with the USPS they find it more efficient to credit back the purchase price to me
Just because you are ultra-computerized does not make Amazon flawless. There are too many human factors and fails built into the Amazon machine.
FWIW David Stockman says Amazon is a bubble stock, one of the largest.
One of my kids works Amazon fulfillment, and they are pretty ruthless employers. They hire seasonally, and the turnover is managed to reduce labor costs. The white/blue collar divide is one of the biggest in the country. White collar opportunity is decent, but blue is almost nonexistent. It is the most heavily automated in the industry, but there are still many intensive positions that machines still can’t perform.
The line jobs have benefits and the pay is commensurate with the work, but most should be considered simple jobs, not careers. The idea that some jobs are not careers seems to have been lost recently, and many people are being Berned by this lack of discernment.
True. Something like that lends itself to automation.
The packing for shipment though seems to be a bit more tricky due to varied merchandise.
Amazon isn’t noted for its great packing though.
“They cut Americans out of making the products, buy direct online from China and cut out the companies. Most companies Chinese products for $1 and sell to Americans for $50.”
I do this on ebay a few times a year. Swimmers silicone earplugs direct from China cost 10% of what the Amazon ones cost...but you have to know which ones to get:)
You can scout out a product on Amazon and read the reviews. Then often you can buy cheaper on ebay either direct from China or it might be Chinese made but sitting in a US warehouse. Black toner for laser printers? Amazon is a rip-off, go to ebay.
The management jobs are better but are pressure cooker jobs. I have been told that over 40 need not apply at the South Dallas fulfillment center.
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