Comment by tristanj | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tristanj | Hacker News Reader

I haven't heard of this program before so I did some digging. According to this source [1], Amazon Camper Force seeks to hire people who live in Campers (aka RVs) as item pickers for Amazon warehouses.

"As part of the CamperForce program, Amazon hires workers on temporary contracts from early October until December 23, paying them near minimum wage while covering the expenses of staying in an RV park.

The company targets older workers, who they believe have a stronger work ethic than their younger counterparts."

The program has been around since 2008. Apparently Amazon does not work them as hard as regular hires, as they only need to hit 70% output (in items per hour) of year-round employees.

[1] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/11/06/camp-n06.html

If you read the page, you’d see that your ‘near minimum wage’ is actually 50-90% above it - higher if you account for the completion bonuses. Much higher if you account for the free campsite, WiFi, and hookups (worth many 100s/mo).

"near minimum wage" just became $15/hr. Sounds like a solid deal.

I think that's for full time employees?

The OP has pay listed per-site and they're all under $15/hr.

Drove past a parking lot full of RVs next to the Amazon facility in Campbellsville Kentucky. Quite startling to see.

Did they have hookups? Water/electricity.

Yes, the sites are full hookup.

Strange new forms of company towns.

Seems better if you don't want people planting roots, building infrastructure, and getting a local government/police/fire force in place. Amazon can shut the place down and won't have tons of people trapped in a dying town.

Unless of course there is crime, or a fire.

That said, I believe geographic mobility is important and probably one of the things that makes things most challenging as an adult.

I worked at that facility up until last year. It's one of the oldest Amazon buildings around.

Half my family is from right there. Amazon and Walmart. The modern day fruit of the loom factory.

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