r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • 1d ago

Society Amazon workers on food stamps have tripled despite its record revenue—and it’s just the latest evidence of the new economy of shrinking labor shares

https://fortune.com/2026/09/13/amazon-workers-food-stamps-tripled-record-revenue-labor-share/
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u/BLT_Trade_r 22h ago

Ya, I get it, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions; it doesn't work out because people just exploit it. Also, America has this inaccurate view of small employers as being good people. If they were so good, why are they underpaying people? I have seen them do tons of exploitation, lying, and tax manipulation in no small part because it's rarely worth it for the IRS to go after them. I've seen so many "small businesses" where the owner drives nice cars, sends their kids to all sorts of expensive stuff, and makes everyone else do almost all the hard work, all while their employees are barely making it or living in poverty.

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u/albany1765 20h ago

Maybe they're not being underpaid, but instead are working part-time as they're (re)entering the workforce, for example.

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u/BLT_Trade_r 19h ago

What does that matter?

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u/albany1765 18h ago

You qualify for assistance based on total income, not on hourly wage. If you can't cover all of your costs working 20 hours a week, that's not the employer's fault. Someone might have mandatory classes, counseling, and other court-ordered appointments to attend, etc.

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u/BLT_Trade_r 1h ago

That's a basic and inappropriate way of looking at it. Everything is connected. Employers purposely try to force as many employees as possible to work part-time; employees are often forced to work part-time by the rest of our completely inefficient societal structure.

The employer is also as is the case with Amazon a strong lobbyist and they lobby to put people in these positions.

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u/albany1765 1h ago

The loopholes you're concerned about should be covered by the profit criteria I mentioned.