Mandatory Amazon warehouse story:
They have rate trackers, to track how fast a worker scans items or whatever. You get constantly hounded by supervisors if you don't hit your rates. On the screens by your stations, there's constant reminders to take wellbeing breaks and stretch breaks and stuff, even though that's an impossibility if you want to hit your rate.
Then there's these 'wellness booths'. I believe they were soundproof. They were just little huts people would go into to have their breakdowns or to escape the constant noise of the warehouse.
Then there's the vending machines. You can swipe your worker ID card to get free painkillers. No, I'm not joking. They have vending machines for free paracetamol.
It's crazy how often I reference my time at Amazon, when I only worked there for like 3-4 months.
When I worked at amazon corporate, the floor had a quiet room, which contained just a chair, a lamp, and a box of tissues.
but were the gatorade bathroom bottles free or did you have to buy them yourself?
Not enough to kill you, but enough for you get back to work for another 5 hours
I believe there was but I only used it once so I don't know. The memory is hazy - perhaps you could buy as many as you wanted, but the first one a week was free. I don't remember exactly.
At the warehouse I work at, which is kind of a amazon wannabe, also has numbers to hit. It's crazy how they hound you on these numbers but also want it both ways. No phone. The door locks 10 min after shift starts and as soon as break ends so a supervisor has to open the door for you to get in. Don't talk. They removed the water cooler for 2 weeks because of "talking" before putting it back.
Just wildly draconian rules ON TOP of the numbers. Like dude judge them by the numbers, or fucking don't. Either let the numbers be judge jury and executioner and let them have a phone and talk to each other or fuck off. It's so fucking embarrassing this place is a goddamn kindergarten. It's like management cannot comprehend that people are doing this to live and making every moment miserable is not going to help anyone.
I would never have been here for this long but I got a support position in tech. Otherwise I'd be fuckin outta this weirdo place
Jesus Christ lol that's awful. Amazons less directly oppressive but there's a lot more surveillance id imagine. Break the rules enough, and eventually some loser sitting on the cams will send your name to HR.
Whenever I read stories about workplaces like this, I think “Thank fuck that’s not me.” and I think about how I’d respond.
It’s only after I entertain fantasies of telling off some boss, or holding my boundaries and not debasing myself for some shitty corporation do I remember that if I lost my comfortable job and were looking at the choice of failing my family or letting a company treat me like a disposable robot because I’m cheaper than an actual robot, do I feel the icy chill of desperation and fear that must exist in the life of people who are forced to do these jobs.It just makes me want to build a guillotine in my back yard, which I have, because I am one of the lucky few who owns a house. Shit, the world is fucked.
which I have, because I am one of the lucky few who owns a house.
I can't even afford to have a kitchen.
Yeah I mean as much as I would love to tell them to eat my ass, fact of the matter is that I have to pay rent and eat. They do pay somewhat ok, and some benefits, but it's about the only upside. Probably one of the higher paying jobs you can get with zero experience doing anything and with no education and with a felony or whatever, yet they still have a gargantuan turnover rate. Like that REALLY says something about how fuckin weird they are lol.
I'm actively looking for jobs and once I do I'll peace out and simply not tell anyone. It's the best I got for fantasizing about owning them lol.
You’re working on walking away from a dehumanizing job in a better position than when you started.
They haven’t strip mined you. You’ve only gained value in the time you’ve been there. That’s pretty good ownage.
Obviously thats terrible, but im honestly envious at not having to bring my own paracetamol to work, and not having to hide in a toilet stall to cry
The real world is somehow worse, at least in a cyberpunk dystopia I can augment myself to have tank tracks or spider legs or some shit
Pretty big assumption that you'd be able to afford augments that were in any way cool helpful to you, or quality.
What's far more likely is that you'll be "heavily incentivized" through "optional work benefits" to get augments through your employer to best suit their needs of you, effectively turning your body into flesh scaffolding for whatever it is cheaper for them to not fully roboticize. Refusal would, at best, prevent you from meeting metrics tailored to those augmented.
These corporate provided augments will be designed by the lowest cost vendor, built by the lowest cost manufacturer, installed by the lowest cost surgeons, running software designed/programmed by the lowest cost developers. Imagine every little bug, frustration, design flaw, safety issue, batshit lack of sanity you have ever encountered with workplace systems/software/equipment/procedure now inherently installed into your own body parts.
Companies will use this to offset costs to you. Like auto shops requiring mechanics to buy and maintain their own tools, but with whatever corners they can cut to save money. It's not our job to maintain your shoulder sockets, despite the fact that our chosen hardware regularly exceeds safe limits on force. Good luck proving that it's your employers fault in court after it's already injured you!
Oh, the "safe lift leg and back support unit" has loose wiring that can come loose in scenarios involving certain repeated movements, which can cause a short, which can cause the unit to heat up to the point it's slowly cooking your remaining natural organs?
Point is, regulation will never keep up with the horrors that companies will be able to justify against their employers. We're in for a long long time of more laws being written in blood and corpses
Also, much like health insurance in the US effectively chaining people to a workplace, can you even imagine how much worse that would be when you got your arms from your job?
One of the most often overlooked meta problems with the cyberpunk genre is that you pretty much have to focus on characters that are in universe upper class to have any stories that aren't just unendingly depressing in every single detail.
Those mechanical legs and arms and spine would be company property, too. They'd expect you to return them if you quit or were fired. Either that or charge you an exorbitant amount for them.
Imagine trying to set up a surgery to remove your Amazon Basics Mecha-Arm + Alexa and get replacement arms without your work insurance.
The problem is, it will probably be closer to deus ex, where people need to continuously buy expensive anti-rejection drugs, or their body will just reject the impacts
So, not super looking forward to it
One of my favorite movies ever. So very worth the watch. If you do watch it soon lmk your thoughts!
hmm today I will pavlov my employees to associate their families with abnormally-high levels of stress. nothing bad will happen as a result of thisVision going red, frothing at the mouth, multiple-day blackout level stuff
As the intrusive thoughts come on, you succumb to disassociation, briefly fantasizing about hacking apart every last one of the bastards in the management suite. When you snap out of it, you're covered in gore and holding a severed hand. Behind you is a trail of blood and smoldering ash. Your direct supervisor bleeds out in a corner with a letter opener jammed into their aorta, and the general manager has been thoroughly dismembered, with various parts tied to the break room corkboard with headset cables.
"I hate Mondays," you mutter to yourself.
I mean, after six months I was on the verge of hurting myself or someone else, so yeah
Full-on berserker rage, tossing shit all over the place, both figuratively and literally
To calm them down? You mean to remind them that yelling at a customer might get them fired and they will no longer be able to provide for their family?
We know what your family looks like and where they live. Get back to work.
*tinny midi jingle begins playing* "In hard times like this..." *slideshow of pictures harvested off social media of likely family members of employee begins playing* "It's important to remember all the people who are relying on your employment, and how failure to meet your quota could affect them." *midi jingle continues playing on repeat for several minutes as part of a pavlovian training of the employee* "Your mood control break has now concluded and in compensation to your employer for this unscheduled break ten more call resolutions have been added to your target quota."
It sort of is a threat when workers suddenly walking out on their jobs has an immediate material effect on the rest of the family. It's partly "think of how this will affect your family".
If it successfully gets people to stay in jobs that they hate then it will slowly cause contempt for those family members.
If you can detect that your employees are having a rough time, you could, you know, give them a break.
Engaging mandatory fun protocol.
Smile to indicate fun.
Fun level insufficient. Smile to indicate fun.
Smile to indicate fun.
Smile to indicate fun.
Smile to indicate fun.
Fun level insufficient. H.R. notification sent.
Mandatory fun time has expired.
Disengaging mandatory fun protocol.
one time I saw a bumper-sticker that read-
"BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD"
I'm not sure why it sticks in my head,,, my head ain't a bumper!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
