Camperforce mobile workforce for Amazon

[RogerDat]

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-cam...-retiree-army/

Maybe other already know this but it was news to me. Amazon hires large numbers of retirees who live in their RV at parks near fulfillment center warehouses and help Amazon handle the holiday season workload.

Pulling items for orders and stocking shelves just through the holidays is a nice gig if you are needing some cash inflow and are up for a couple of months of work. They have fulfillment centers scattered around the country. According to the story they appreciate retired workers for their work ethic and dependability.

Thought it might be of interest to some full timing members.

[John Linck]

First, I have no experience here. But, I have heard from folks that you need to be in great physical shape and willing to hustle for long days on your feet. Still might be a good fit for some people.

john

Pic of Hoh Valley Rainforest in Olympic National Park

[theresa p]

Hi Roger---I found that article about Camperforce a very interesting read. Thanks for the link.
You said you didn't know that Amazon hires retirees for seasonal work----actually, I did know that but there is a huge difference in knowing something...and knooooowwwwing something. lol

To anyone here who has been a camperforce employee, congratulations! You have my respect and my admiration. Sounds like it's a good thing it's just seasonal!!!!

[k0wtz]

I wonder if they run behind the old people with a stop watch?

bob

[Cathy P.]

I follow this blog, although they are in a stick trailer, they, a couple in the early 50s just started a 7 week program at Amazon in KY. She is doing a "play by play" of what it is like. She generally does a pretty good job of describing the situation, at least the way she sees it. Coming from the corporate world, many people that take up workcamping are surprised that jobs that don't pay as well are much more challenging than they expected!

https://camperchronicles.com/

[k corbin]

Don't forget that you will have to pay federal income tax on the value of the camping site you are staying in. That makes a big impact on your "take home pay". That value is known because those camping sites are also RV sites that rent out spaces not being occupied by the Amazon workers. Those taxes are going to come out of your pay or else you will have to declare them when you go to file your taxes and pay for them at that later date.

[rlsooby]

Originally Posted by k corbin

Don't forget that you will have to pay federal income tax on the value of the camping site you are staying in. That makes a big impact on your "take home pay". That value is known because those camping sites are also RV sites that rent out spaces not being occupied by the Amazon workers. Those taxes are going to come out of your pay or else you will have to declare them when you go to file your taxes and pay for them at that later date.

Not necessarily. According to a tax attorney: “If you are required to live on the premises, the value of your RV site is not taxable. If you could live somewhere else and still do your duties and the employer provides a site merely as a convenience, the value is taxable. … For your protection and to satisfy the IRS requirements, have the employer state in your employment contract that you are required to live on-site,”

[k0wtz]

work camping is a pretty mundane way to make some extra money and on top of that the retail business doesn't pay all that well to start with. Get this when I managed a grocery store in the late 60s early 70s we paid pretty well. Now I check and wages haven't gone up that much is 50 years. Frightning it pays to get a skilled trade or an education in fields that pay well!

[dcs02d]

Creeping close to politics....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwOJlOI1nU

Thank god I have a nice well funded pension. Everyone said I was dumb to pass on the fancy 401K. I'll get the last laugh as I retire at 53.

[garycarolyn]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-cam...-retiree-army/

Maybe other already know this but it was news to me. Amazon hires large numbers of retirees who live in their RV at parks near fulfillment center warehouses and help Amazon handle the holiday season workload.

Pulling items for orders and stocking shelves just through the holidays is a nice gig if you are needing some cash inflow and are up for a couple of months of work. They have fulfillment centers scattered around the country. According to the story they appreciate retired workers for their work ethic and dependability.

Thought it might be of interest to some full timing members.

Check out Nomadland by Jessica Bruder, she has a chapter on Amazon workforce and other ways nomads earn cash. Lots of good information.

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by dcs02d

Thank god I have a nice well funded pension. Everyone said I was dumb to pass on the fancy 401K. I'll get the last laugh as I retire at 53.

Agreed, but a pension is only as good as the company/government paying it out. As we've seen with both cities and companies, pensions can also evaporate during tough times.

The Amazon work camping sounds like a decent idea. I think more adventurous people can find more interesting, fulfilling, fun work with a little effort, but the fact that Amazon hands it all to you - job, parking spot etc, rather than having to track all that stuff down yourself, is pretty tempting.

[dcs02d]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Agreed, but a pension is only as good as the company/government paying it out. As we've seen with both cities and companies, pensions can also evaporate during tough times.

My dad has a pension with Pan Am. Guess what that is worth

Fortunately mine is with the State and thus far no state has declared bankruptcy.

[Cathy P.]

In my 60s, I just can't imagine walking 10+ miles, bending, on my knees, up and down stairs for 5 - 10 hour shifts a week unless it was to keep food on the table, as only in a state of desperation would I do that. I have worked in manufacturing when I was much, much younger and it was bad enough, but to keep food on the table, I put it up with for as long as I needed to.

From the blog I read, it is tough. Blisters and aching joints, and we'll see if it gets worse. I'd rather bring in less money, do less travel and feel "whole" at the end of the day.

[Sands]

Interesting article on this: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ma...ife-2017-11-06 In our boondocking-by-choice my wife and I have met at least two people who are living/working/traveling under these conditions, by necessity not choice. Both single women, both 60+. One has been living this way for 8 years, the other for 3. The 'gypsy life' is a whole different experience when you aren't sure where the $$ for your next meal/repair/gas fill up will come from.

[Daniel A.]

Not everyone does these jobs out of necessity some just want to stay healthy and fit and do it because they can.
I also have a great pension but have a couple of small parttime jobs I do that work on my schedule not someone else's.

[Cathy P.]

Most that struggle financially on the road also did so in their former lives, but saw full-timing as a way to improve the quality of their life. I encourage those interested in the subject to check out stories on youtube in order to get why the choice is being made.

[Glenn Baglo]

I don't see working in an Amazon warehouse as a choice.
Choice suggests there is an option, and obviously these people don't have an option.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by rlsooby

Not necessarily. According to a tax attorney: “If you are required to live on the premises, the value of your RV site is not taxable. If you could live somewhere else and still do your duties and the employer provides a site merely as a convenience, the value is taxable. … For your protection and to satisfy the IRS requirements, have the employer state in your employment contract that you are required to live on-site,”

The Amazon job does not require anyone to live on site. They hire locally as well a utilizing the camper workforce.

Some work camping jobs require living on site. Hover some of the jobs being offered are specifically stated to be a trade of labor for the cost of the site to stay in. The value of that site is then defined as taxable income by the IRS. So it is best to be very careful when taking work camping jobs and find out before you take them what the actual tax consequences are going to be. If the person offering the job states that you are a contractor of labor to them versus being their employee then you also have to pay self employment tax. It is important to understand that sometimes the person offering the job is taking advantage of tax loopholes so that they don't end up having to fill out and pay employer taxes for their labor force.

Just saying if you are going to do work camping then you need to educate yourself about the finances because it is not always what you have been used to in previous employment situations.

[Cathy P.]

Most people go into full-time RVing knowing what they are getting themselves into. I think those that have it the hardest generally come from "white" collar jobs. I had noticed over the years, probably 30 years, that workamping jobs started adding "in good physical shape", and also mentioning when a job required "walking distances".

Full-timers have become so much younger, many in their 20s now.

Full-timing requires giving up a lot of things, especially if you go "small" with your RV. Step over the dog, move this here, move that there, something new means something old has to go. And then you have fighting the weather which is also more difficult than it was 30 years ago.

All of this is a choice for most, unless they end up just living in their vehicle because there isn't any other choice, which is also becoming common. The whole world of full-time RVing as we first looked at it in the early 1990s has changed as has the world.

Even in our smaller city, we have temp agencies that have positions doing different types of jobs, I would think that might be a better bet for "variety" for some.

They act like Amazon pays so much with the free campsite, but for the type of work being done, it is about what most pay and even slightly less in some cases. The warehouse in the next county is hiring through the temp agency and the wage is about the same (wage plus what the free campsite that Amazon gives out computed by value per hour).

[k0wtz]

I cannot imagine living my life this way but I know people get into it. While in Italy camped out we ran across a young lady from Spain who ran out of work there and was working in the vineyards in Italy.

She was living in a tent I love tenting but I cannot imagine doing it because I had to! She said the Italians were terrible to work for as they were drivers no doubt they expected a lot.

Sometimes maybe people just don't think but in our journies we have seen many of these types in campgrounds!

not a good existence to me


bob