If Amazon has a monopoly because they are the only ones interested in taking advantage of the surplus labor, then that’s a huge problem, but unless they are somehow locking other companies out, they aren’t the cause of that problem. Are you trying to tell me that Amazon shouldn’t bring those jobs to those areas, and that would somehow be better for the residents? I don’t see any good logic in that, yes, they are taking advantage of an opportunity, but no, those people are worse off if they don’t take advantage.
I’d love to see you go to a place like Yazoo Mississippi and tell the residents how lucky they are to not have Amazon there employing them.
The issue is simply companies taking advantage of people.
We like to call it the market, but the market only works when there is a balance.
I am simply advocating for a balancing force.
Government or Unions usually fill this role.
I would equally challenge you to go to a warehouse and listen to peoples stories about their working conditions and personal stories.
In most cases for low end jobs, you have a lot choices, you just work somewhere else. Amazon usually isn’t the only job in these towns, just the one that pays the most without requiring much education and experience. Ya, life still sucks for a lot of these people working in a warehouse, but less than it would without the job.
The edge could be taken off of these jobs by just giving health insurance to everyone and not making it employer responsibility anymore. This would actually hurt Amazon since they often provide health benefits more easily than the rest (by giving enough hours). Detaching healthcare and maybe even minimum wage (via UBI) would go farther than expecting companies provide everything to workers no matter the job value.
I have friends who are immigrants and have heard them recommending Amazon to each other for warehouse work; apparently Amazon is very flexible if your schedule has to change.
Amazon is a huge player in e-commerce, but there are a lot of employers of warehouse workers and Amazon isn't close to having labor pricing power from what I can see. It's true I am located in a large city and they might have more wage-setting power in smaller cities.
I’d love to see you go to a place like Yazoo Mississippi and tell the residents how lucky they are to not have Amazon there employing them.