Amazon announces 10 billion euros in Europe and 25,000 new jobs. It sounds like shared progress: robots for heavy tasks, tech courses for workers. But the fine print reveals that those robots don't earn a salary, don't ask for vacations, and don't unionize. The jobs will be more technological, but also more controlled, measured, and precarious. The training is not charity; it's an investment so the worker performs more without earning more.
The conditionality that no one demands from big tech companies 🤖
The problem is not Amazon investing, but that no one invests in the opposite: reducing dependence on these platforms, strengthening local commerce, or guaranteeing digital rights. Amazon's money is welcome, but conditionality is never demanded. That's why million-dollar investments end up public in the headlines and private in the profits. The 25,000 jobs will be fine, but we'll have to see how many last, how much they pay, and how much it costs to lose them when Amazon decides that robots already do everything.
Free Amazon course: learn to be replaceable in 3 months 🛠️
Amazon offers you technology courses to retrain yourself. How generous. Of course, then they'll put you to watch the robots that do your old job. Training is the new coffee for everyone: it keeps you awake while they prepare your dismissal. And watch out, they might even promote you: from warehouse operator to supervisor of your own replacement. That's right, without night shift pay or the option to unionize. Shared progress, of course.