Just a few weeks ago, Amazon announced that it would be cutting health benefits for part-time workers of the large grocery chain “Whole Foods”. In response to the public outcry, Bezos explained that this was a part of his plan to “create a more equitable and efficient scheduling model”, and that Whole Foods was working on converting part-time employees to full-time ones. But for those who are unable to work at least 30 hours, this revocation of benefits completely negates the current wage increase that Bezos has been touting as an example of his charity.
While this may not seem to be any form of injustice – people who work more should receive more, right? – one must bear in mind that the increase in Bezos’ wealth, when adapted to an hourly pay rate, is egregiously larger than the salary of a baseline worker. Bezos’ net worth at the end of 2018 was $100 billion, and as of 9/17/19, it is $113.2 billion. Even assuming that Bezos works as many as 80 hours a week, his wage would need to be $4,230,769 per hour in order to see a $13.2 billion increase in approximately 39 weeks. In comparison to an employee who makes $15/hour, Bezos’ wage would be 282,051 times larger.
People who work more should receive more, but can we honestly assume that Jeff Bezos puts in 282,000 times more work per hour than the standard employee? What about 100,000 times more effort; 1,000 times; 100 times; even ten times? A quick analysis of the working conditions in one of the Amazon warehouses quickly puts any assumptions to rest.
The “Fulfillment Center”- already foreboding in its dystopian connotations- of Richmond, VA, has a total area of 1.1 million square feet. For the picking job, in which an employee takes products from the shelves and sends them off to be prepared for shipping, it’s common to walk a total of 12 miles in a shift. It’s expected that each picker delivers 100 items per hour, meaning one item every 36 seconds, even if that item could be hundreds of yards away. With electronic trackers, higher-ups easily see which employees don’t meet the quota and promptly fire them. As well, many pickers are only on the job during times of high-demand (think Christmas) and are let go once demand dwindles, especially if they are hired from a temp agency, which many are. (It must also be noted that temp workers already do not receive health and retirement benefits.)
So, could it then be assumed that Bezos makes such a large amount of money because his job is more valuable? Doubtful. The President of the United States only has a yearly salary of $400,000. Orthopedic doctors, on average, earn $443,000 per year. And janitors- the cornerstone of modern sanitation and health – earn a mere $25,181 per year.
This wage disparity is not because the wealthy work harder, or because their jobs are more important. It’s because we have been convinced that these people are more deserving. In actuality, the hyper-wealthy (not just Bezos) have amassed their fortunes via immoral business practices such as ecological destruction, and heinously-low wages for hard labor. Bezos has simply managed to make more money by using the same practices, making him a prime example of the current American CEO.
The low-wage issue is not a problem just for Amazon. In America, a job at Walmart or Home Depot has a starting wage of $10/hour, and at FedEx, the starting wage is $13/hour. Since 88% of minimum wage workers are over the age of 20 (therefore paying taxes, rent, etc.), such small wages are practically a death sentence.
Jeff Bezos is not an exception to modern business practices, but just one bleak example out of a long list of employers who are the rule. He stands out in only one aspect: he is wealthier than any other person on the planet. His treatment of his employees is more horrifying in that he is the least in need of a safety net; he refuses to hire full-time workers and keeps wages low purely to fulfill his own greed. By upholding these practices as legal, we obfuscate the terrible conditions in which the lower class the world over are forced to toil.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whole-foods-is-dropping-health-care-for-part-time-workers/
https://networthpost.org/jeff-bezos-net-worth/
https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/#6242c64c1b23
https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/life-and-death-amazon-temp/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/how-much-the-president-on-the-united-states-gets-paid.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-do-doctors-make-2016-4
https://hbr.org/2016/01/why-companies-are-blind-to-child-labor
https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-workers-older-88-percent-workers-benefit/