Amazon Closing KS Facility - RV-Dreams Community Forum

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Amazon Closing KS Facility

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think I know where there will be some campgrounds for sale, cheap.

I remember driving through Coffeyville on the way to Claremore, OK. I would not have paid attention except for Amazon, the city did not stand out. Not a good situation.

Lets get moving · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a neighbor who is an exec with Amazon and he was telling us that they are building new facilities that have robotic retrieval systems. The new facility in Baltimore is equipped with this as some others are being refitted. There will still be human packers but orders will be brought by these little robots to the packers. So the future would have less Amazon workampers. So goes the world.......we humans are being phased out.

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

They announced it yesterday at the KY facility. They said that it will be closing in Feb 2015 and the peak season would not be affected. Fulltime workers at the facility have been offered the opportunity to transfer to any other location in the country.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lets get moving wrote:
We have a neighbor who is an exec with Amazon and he was telling us that they are building new facilities that have robotic retrieval systems. The new facility in Baltimore is equipped with this as some others are being refitted. There will still be human packers but orders will be brought by these little robots to the packers. So the future would have less Amazon workampers. So goes the world.......we humans are being phased out.

Any machine can pick an order and move it around a warehouse. The human will still be, and perhaps always be, needed to repair the machines, and clean up the messes and chaos that results from machine (programming or design) errors. Phased out? More like the nature of human work is and always has been changing to fit the times. What an opportunity to discover the true value of the human potential, once we are liberated from drudgery and the mundane. The time is coming when we won't value ourselves by the work we do, but by the contribution we, ourselves, make to the greater good in whatever manifestation that comes in. For those that rely on Amazon-type work to fullfill their monetary needs, I can only say... the writing for most is on the wall, time to take a new course before you become a victim of your own fears. Those that adapt will be okay. Amazon is doing what it thinks is right for it's business. That is their right. For the workers, you must do the same. Zig Zigler's so-called "opportunity clock" is ringing... time for something new.

Soapbox being put away.

FWIW, Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Thursday 2nd of October 2014 07:54:50 AM

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Maybe these new innovations are why the prices have been going up at Amazon and why I have decreased shopping there probably by 75% giving business to Wal-Mart and Vitacost and saving myself money. I did not buy into their "Prime - $99" and it was taking a couple of weeks for orders to come in on "free" shipping when the other two had my orders to me in 3 or 4 days. Unfortunately, in many areas these kinds of jobs are needed and we live in a college town (2nd one) in Kansas where college graduates end up working at Wal-Mart/real estate/insurance etc. rather than getting those salaries needed to pay off the college debt. While transfers are good, most residents in KS working at many of the types of jobs here cannot afford to move especially if they own a home. Replacing a home when moving from a low cost of living area to one that is higher is impossible and many towns have housing markets already loaded down. Yes, Amazon has a "right" to do what it takes to put more money in their pockets but I will make every effort at this point to spend my money elsewhere. They started out as the place to buy because of price and quick shipping, that went. Greedy companies generally get their "just" rewards and other companies are working to help that happen with faster shipping and lower prices. I have great respect for anyone that works a job despite what that job may be, whether working on computers or filling orders at a warehouse.

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Thursday 2nd of October 2014 05:47:42 AM

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Driving around the U.S. and Canada we see boom and bust cities all the time. Places where a mine, sawmill, or factory closed, and others where a business or two has moved in and houses are going up like weeds. Been going on for centuries, fishing towns dying when the fish get scarce, railroads bypassing the town, and will continue to go on. Some go through multiple boom and bust cycles.

I moved a couple times in my life for work and it was hard. But, many won't do so for many reasons.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

So, I wonder how many workampers this will impact? I know that Wal-Mart warehouses take on seasonal help but the wage without other benefits probably wouldn't make it worth the drive. I am guessing they will start with KS and move on to the other facilities as far as the upgrades go. I don't pay much attention to what a business says they are going to do or not under the "fool me once" rule.