Amazon considering a distribution warehouse in the Pittsburgh area (Crafton: low income, renting)

[doo dah]

Rather than paste whole paragraphs, here is the Amazon "fulfillment" recruiting page:
Amazon Fulfillment - Hourly Fulfillment Associate Jobs

Part-time positions start at $10.00-$11.00. Full-time $12.00-$14.00.
I wonder if most hiring is part-time, then one could apply to be full-time after a certain period.

Yikes:
"Work Environment
• Work with and/or around moving mechanical parts
• Noise level varies and can be loud
• Temperature in the fulfillment center may vary between 60
and 90 degrees, and will occasionally exceed 90 degrees"

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by doo dah

• Temperature in the fulfillment center may vary between 60
and 90 degrees, and will occasionally exceed 90 degrees"

Did you read the article someone else posted earlier in the thread?

It says that Amazon kept ambulances outside warehouses to treat workers of heat exhaustion.

Talk about knowing they have an unsafe work environment!

[captainmidnight]

Originally Posted by doo dah

Rather than paste whole paragraphs, here is the Amazon "fulfillment" recruiting page:
Amazon Fulfillment - Hourly Fulfillment Associate Jobs

Part-time positions start at $10.00-$11.00. Full-time $12.00-$14.00.
I wonder if most hiring is part-time, then one could apply to be full-time after a certain period.

Yikes:
"Work Environment
• Work with and/or around moving mechanical parts
• Noise level varies and can be loud
• Temperature in the fulfillment center may vary between 60
and 90 degrees, and will occasionally exceed 90 degrees"

That sounds about right. UPS had the same conditions. The inside of trucks were freezing cold in winter(I worked the overnight shift so some of these trailers had been sitting outside empty most of the day) or like the Amazon (no pun intended) rainforest in the summer - Hot, humid, no air movement. I would end my shift with my clothes soaked in sweat that had the same feeling as if you jumped into a swimming pool with your clothes on. I had towels covering the seat in my car so my car wouldn't smell as terrible. I worked with a few people on that shift that had been there awhile, but most were kids in college/high school or in between jobs. The more seniority you had, the better chance you had at moving up the totem pole. Most long term people went on to become management i.e shift and area managers while some long timers had the more "difficult" labor jobs (like package sorting or loading the neighborhood delivery truck) that paid a little extra. I guess they liked working there or realized that was the best they could get? I was only there a year but it made me appreciate that type of work more.

My neighbor was going to college back in the 1970's to become a teacher. He and his wife married while in college and then she became pregnant. He had to drop out of college and start working in order to support his family. Since he only had a high school degree, he had to do manual labor work at the SuperValu warehouse in New Stanton. He made enough money there to support two more kids and a house (with a pool) and college for all three kids. Two of them went to CMU. I'm not sure if his wife worked anywhere. He was still working there as of two years ago when he injured his shoulder and needed surgery. He was on medical leave and when he returned to work, discovered he could no longer perform heavy lifting work in the warehouse. They offered him an office job but he told me the pay was so much lower that he figured out it would be better to just retire. Plus he didn't want to do the hassle of the commute and didn't need to worry about putting kids through college anymore.

Flash forward to today if that same scenario happen and I doubt someone could support their family of five with buying a house and putting the kids through college. Its still possible if you get a job at one of the USS plants but there are less jobs there now than there were 40 years ago or if you learn a trade and go with that, but most people will take the path of least resistance and go into retail or take on a side job and get on public assistance. What else can you do if you have to support a family? Pretty sad state of affairs.

[_Buster]

Low skilled and manual labor jobs are just not as valuable anymore, with the increasing amounts of automation and outsourcing / globalization of manufacturing. I don't think that trend is going to reverse. Learning new skills and education are more important than ever for finding a career not just a job. However there still are many blue collar high skilled jobs in the trades, that it's possible to make a good living on and those jobs won't be going away anytime soon. It takes some time to learn and work your way up but really that has always been the case. The fact that many/most households have two earners also means that each individual lower skilled job may not pay as much as they did in the days of one breadwinner.

[PghYinzer]

The first thing you do when you don’t have a decent paying job that can support a family....don’t have kids you can’t afford. Not to sound cold but there should be some serious budget analysis done before deciding to have a child.

Most people wouldn’t buy a dog if they knew they couldn’t afford it, but a lot of people don’t even think twice about having a kid they can’t afford to feed. If you can’t figure out how to not have a kid, then there is a good chance you shouldn’t be allowed to have one in they first place.

[Kippy]

With the addition of a warehouse, I wonder if Amazon Fresh, their same-day grocery delivery service, will become available in our area.

[BarqCider]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

The first thing you do when you don’t have a decent paying job that can support a family....don’t have kids you can’t afford. Not to sound cold but there should be some serious budget analysis done before deciding to have a child.

Most people wouldn’t buy a dog if they knew they couldn’t afford it, but a lot of people don’t even think twice about having a kid they can’t afford to feed. If you can’t figure out how to not have a kid, then there is a good chance you shouldn’t be allowed to have one in they first place.

the problem is that it seems the lesser educated folks are the ones who are popping the kids out, while the educated are putting it off until their careers are set in stone/have lived and traveled/enjoyed life for a while.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by BarqCider

the problem is that it seems the lesser educated folks are the ones who are popping the kids out, while the educated are putting it off until their careers are set in stone/have lived and traveled/enjoyed life for a while.

That's because educated people tend to be smart enough to plan their futures, and uneducated people tend not to be. Living for today is fine until it begins to impede your tomorrow.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

That's because educated people tend to be smart enough to plan their futures, and uneducated people tend not to be. Living for today is fine until it begins to impede your tomorrow.

It's hard to plan for the future when you can barely deal with the concerns of today. It's not like someone making $12/hour is going to be worrying about their 401K plan. They're just hoping that they can make the rent and that their car won't need new tires this month. Planning for the future is a luxury that a lot of folks can afford.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by GeneW

It's hard to plan for the future when you can barely deal with the concerns of today. It's not like someone making $12/hour is going to be worrying about their 401K plan. They're just hoping that they can make the rent and that their car won't need new tires this month. Planning for the future is a luxury that a lot of folks can afford.

I agree fully, but people in that situation should not be having children. I do know though that people find themselves in this situation after previously having better employment, a situation which I do not know of a good answer for.

The question...”how can you raise a family on that income?” is what drove me to say that maybe if that is your income you shouldn’t be having children to raise.