- Jeff Bezos thanked Amazon employees and customers for paying for his Blue Origin space flight.
- But some Amazon employees said they want better pay and working conditions, not thanks.
- “He should go to Jupiter and live his best life there,” a worker told Insider.
- For more stories, please visit Business Insider.
About three minutes after Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos flew into suborbital space on Tuesday, he thanked some people who helped get him there: Amazon employees and customers.
“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer, because you have paid for all this,” Bezos said in an interview. Post-flight press conference“Seriously, to every Amazon customer and every Amazon employee there, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much.”
For many employees who heard Bezos’ comments, this feeling was not entirely mutual.
Many Amazon employees told Insider that they seemed to have no interest in this release. They hoped that Bezos could spend the money on almost anything else, such as better paying Amazon employees’ salaries.
“I heard he was going to space, but to be honest, I don’t care,” an employee said. Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, Told Insider, and added: “My colleague and I joked that he should go to Jupiter and live his best life there.”
“Of course people don’t rush to watch TV,” an Amazon warehouse employee in Indiana told Insider. “I think this is just a big deal for Jeff. We didn’t get anything out of it. Since we finished this work, we basically need 20 minutes to fly into space.”
Amazon and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story.
Most of Bezos’ wealth is roughly tied to 51.7 million shares The Amazon stock he owns has risen to more than US$3,549 per share since the company’s IPO price of US$18 in 1997. Bezos previously stated that Liquidation of Amazon stock worth approximately $1 billion Funds are provided for Blue Origin’s operations every year, so those who helped Amazon succeed did provide funding for Bezos’ space ambitions.
But some employees said that they have paid the price for the success of Amazon and Blue Origin, and there are some aspects that they are not satisfied with.
“I guess he is thanking us for putting money in his pockets through our hard work, sacrificing our bonuses and stock options to achieve this goal,” said an Amazon employee in Indiana. (Amazon’s hourly warehouse employees are not eligible for stock options or bonuses).
An employee on Staten Island said: “I think he just said that because of his guilty conscience, he knew that he was wrong to make money by treating workers like slaves.” grueling with Potentially dangerous situation Some Amazon employees encountered.
Although there is evidence that unions usually increase salary And can help solve Race and gender pay gap.
Just like other critics of Bezos space flight – like Senator Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts and New York Rep. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez -Point out that U.S. taxpayers have also subsidized Amazon and Blue origin.
Amazon’s reliance on a vast network of contract delivery drivers allows it to avoid paying for their health care, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, as well as for 4,000 workers in only 9 states Rely on food stamps, Passing these costs on to taxpayers and other employers who will pay the social safety net to help troubled Amazon employees.
Amazon employees who spoke with Insider also said that they believe that Bezos should use more of his huge wealth to solve these and other problems instead of pursuing his space ambitions.
“I can think of him that he can use all the money he spends on it to do many other things to provide better wages for beginners, homeless, poor, and mentally healthy people,” another current Amazon logistics center employee Tell Insider.
“When there are so many homeless and hungry people in the world, I think he is selfish for self-consumption and sending himself into space. He can end the homelessness and hunger of everyone in the world. He chooses not to Do this because he is selfish,” said former Amazon employee Vicki Shannon Allen (Vickie Shannon Allen). Work injury And the long-term battle with Amazon on medical expenses.
