Can Corporations Be Good Neighbors?
posted by Keyona Smith | December 5, 2018 | In OpinionAmazon, known for its electronic commerce based out of Seattle, Washington is expanding to the east coast in the near future. According to the New York Times, the company has finalized plans of splitting its second headquarters to Long Island City, New York City and Arlington, Virginia. If Amazon goes ahead with these two new sites, it is unclear whether the company would refer to both of the locations as headquarters or it they would amount to large satellite offices. Amazon said that the company was growing much too fast to stay at its home base in Seattle, Washington.
The company said it would invest more than $5 billion over almost two decades in a second headquarters, hiring as many as 50,000 full-time employees that would earn more than $100,000 a year on average. Despite Amazon’s bad reputation for the conditions of its factory warehouses some believe there are great benefits for the expansion.
Nieema Williams, a student at FSU thinks that customers shopping experience can increase with the move. “Now if you have these headquarters, in Virginia and New York, and I am on the east coast, I am sure to get my two day delivery,” said Williams.
FSU student Antavious Steed believes it is the go-to place for great deals. “With the Amazon account, you can watch videos and movies, including exclusive movies just for Amazon,” said Steed. “They are taking over.”
USA Today said that the company is rocking the way we conduct business one avenue at a time. “This is the definition of disruption. This is Netflix replacing Blockbuster, this is Uber replacing Taxis,” said Brendan Witcher, principal analyst with Forrester Research.
But is Amazon failing its workers by trying to keep up with its advancements?
Iliana Vega, an FSU student, said she has heard horror stories of how the company runs their warehouses. “I’ve heard so many bad things about how they treat people,” said Vega.
Jessahna Whitney, a transfer student from Washington state, recalled a time a hometown friend posted to Facebook sharing his experience as an Amazon employee. “He used to work for Amazon. He shared personal videos about the poor working conditions,” said Whitney. “He was almost suicidal and depressed by the way they treated their workers.”
Certainly Amazon is aware that more than its customers should be satisfied. It doesn’t add up that customers are raving about the deals they catch and their privileges from their prime accounts while workers face harsh conditions. I believe that with this expansion the company can only go up from here. It is evident that they have recognized that they must make room for everyone on board to continue in their advancing endeavors.
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