Jeff Bezos outsourced his staff and tax responsibilities while asking us to raise funds for red nose day to help fight local and global poverty.
The Red Nose Day Controversy
Partnership Role: Since 2023, Amazon has been the official home of the Red Nose, handling the production and distribution of the noses and related merchandise.
Public Reaction: Critics and some members of the public have labelled the partnership as hypocritical, arguing that a company accused of aggressive tax avoidance is being positioned as a champion for addressing poverty and the cost of living in the UK.
Employee Fundraising: While Amazon encourages its staff to participate in fundraising activities like virtual photobooths and fancy-dress walks, critics point out that these same workers have reportedly faced benefit cuts to fund their own pay rises.
Staff and Outsourcing Allegations
Worker Conditions: Reports have surfaced of Amazon warehouse workers being under significant pressure to meet targets, with some reportedly sleeping in tents because they cannot afford local rent on their wages.
Relief Fund Backlash: During the pandemic, Amazon faced intense criticism for allowing the public to donate to a relief fund for its own contract and seasonal workers, despite the company’s multi-billion dollar profits.
UK Tax Responsibilities
Reported Tax Gap: Campaigners estimate that Amazon’s “systematic corporation tax avoidance” may have cost the UK Treasury as much as £575 million in 2024 alone.
Tax Credits: Investigations by Tax Justice UK highlighted that Amazon’s main UK division paid no corporation tax in 2022 and instead received millions in government tax credits for infrastructure investments.
The idea that “charity is people stepping in where governments are failing” is a widely discussed perspective, particularly in the context of rising demand for food banks, housing support, and social care in the UK. While charities have historically played a role in social welfare, evidence suggests they are increasingly serving as a, sometimes strained, safety net due to gaps in state provision.
The phrase, “The poor will always have you,” is an inversion of a well-known quote from the New Testament of the Bible, which in modern translations generally reads, “The poor you will always have with you“.
This statement is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (26:11), Mark (14:7), and John (12:8), and is part of Jesus’ response to his disciples when they object to a woman anointing him with expensive perfume that could have been sold to help the poor.
Origin and Context
Jesus’ statement is a direct allusion to Deuteronomy 15:11 in the Old Testament, which states, “For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land”.
Meaning and Interpretation
When Jesus said this, he was not dismissing the plight of the poor or suggesting that poverty is an unchangeable fate to be ignored. Instead, the original context highlights several points:
A Call to Action: By referencing Deuteronomy, Jesus was reminding his followers of their ongoing, God-given responsibility to be open-handed and generous toward the poor.
Prioritizing Worship: The statement served as a defense of the woman’s act of worship. Jesus emphasized that while the disciples would always have opportunities to help the poor, the unique, physical opportunity to honor him before his imminent death and burial was fleeting.
Critique of Motives: In John’s Gospel, the objection came from Judas Iscariot, who was a thief and did not genuinely care for the poor, adding a layer of rebuke to those who use concern for the needy as a mask for their own self-righteousness or misplaced priorities.
In summary, the phrase is a reminder of the perpetual existence of poverty in a fallen world and a constant call for believers to show ongoing compassion and generosity, but it also establishes the importance of wholehearted devotion and worship of Christ.
I am not normally one for looking to biblical texts for inspiration but this just struck a cord with me this morning. Although I am employed (happyish in my work) receive enough pay to keep a roof over my head and to try to save money for rainy days and buy goods and services that I think I need in my life, there is very little leftover to do anything else with after that.
Not that I need more money for myself but there is also a complete lack of employment opportunities to move up any form of career ladder nowadays across Britain, even if I made the time and effort to apply for other jobs. Unlike in my youth, administration manager roles or project support staff roles roles just no longer exist in a way like they used to. I know people with a desire to work that are finding it extremely difficult to step into employment now and have never witnessed an employment market as difficult and competitive as the one that exists today.
There are ways and means of getting into work and you must go the extra mile if unemployed every time to prove your worth to potential employers. I have always looked to work in a place of my choice doing something that interests me as a volunteer when out of work and that has always proved so far to be an excellent stepping stone to employed work and also a huge motivator to get out of bed and rewarding me with enjoyment and self respect.
I had up until recently been contributing small amounts or money each month to the Green Party and also a charity called International Rescue. I stopped those payments recently and it has to some extent been playing on my mind. How can someone like me help people those with less than what I have.
I would like to think there are many ways I can continue to help others. Such as how I vote, what I advocate for in the political system. What I say on my blog, what I believe in and live by. Helping a friend with less cash than me with a drink on a night out or making sure they have enough money to safely get a taxi home or other little things like that are small wins that help the people that I respect and want to support.
Poverty has felt like a real life possibility for me at times one which could if I am unlucky enough or we are all propelled into some cataclysm come back top haunt me. I was homeless (for a very short time myself once, which lead to me having the home that I have now lived in for over 15 years provided by a housing association which I now also work voluntarily for on a scrutiny panel to help improve the housing association for others, they have helped me so I am helping them now. I have always found in life that when I can not afford to give to a charity or good cause financially I can always make up for by giving my time and effort instead.
I have also been on benefits in the past when out of work or unwell with which without which I could have had nothing although saying that I have always had the love and support of my parents. They will not always be around to help me though which does make me focus my mind on ensuring I am there to stand on my own two feet on my own. To think of safety nets is not just theoretical for me but absolutely vital in order to have gone from where I was to where I am today.
To pay my way in life and hold my own not relying on anyone now financially but myself is a huge achievement to me. Though some might see holding your own and paying your way as perhaps a form of failure to me it is a genuine success. Well it must be some kind of religious quotes day for me so I will bail out with another interesting quote from the bible. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.
JAMES – Sit Down (Original Rough Trade Version Music Video)
I’m still here got through the working day, I have had a wobble or three and can’t say it has not been hard. But I am ok, had been very busy, lots of responsibilities, trying to do the right thing, say the right thing and act in the right way. Emotions been a little all over the place today too and still are tonight with things happening outside of work which I am trying to process too, about how I am feeling and why I feel like I do. Tonight I’m doing my best to keep it all together, chill, recharge my batteries and prepare for tomorrows storms too.
So I have had a much needed wonderful restful weekend after a busy week. Yesterday I also attended the wedding night of one of my colleagues. What a great time with good people at a lovely venue for a celebration of a wonderful couples union.
Tomorrow gets busy though and more complicated, in work a great deal of staff are either on holiday, have left permanently or are being trained up to assist in supporting team members more. I need to try and reach out to others to get help tomorrow as I am well out of my depth with having too much on at the moment, but there are kind people that should and can help out if I ask.
I think I might have slept too much today and have too much on my mind tonight to sleep well. So much is going on in life at the moment and the world is certainly spinning madly on. I get nervous at times like this, reflective and anxious but try to enjoy the good moments as well as fear what might go wrong while hoping to work towards what could go right too.
Difficult to know how to express myself at present, our local government employer has recently had a new chief executive appointed to run the organisation and one of their first actions was to inform staff that they are not allowed to divulge information or talk about elements of their work that they know about to the press or media including social media outlets that the organisation wishes to remain confidential. So therefore I am not even sure if I am allowed to say the last sentence that I have just written without getting into trouble with my employer and it’s bugging me.
It’s not like I work for the secret service and am disclosing where the local spies live and what they are up to or that I work for the ministry of defence and am announcing what weapons are being shipped out to the Ukraine and when they are arriving and where. No what I really do is work for a district council which yes is controlled by a political party and therefore I guess the sheer act of commenting on how it is run or where it is not in my view not running well is political!
One of the managers in my organisation who is an honourable and hard working employee joked in my work this week to me saying there is a quote he read in a book concerning ‘if you know who the person is in your organisation that knows everything then sack them immediately!.’ I think it was funny when he said it, rather than how I am able to type it.
Last Friday I went to a small and perfectly formed gathering of people to send off my former manager on her way and wish her best of luck for her future. She is a wonderful human being and for personal and professional reasons resigned. I was nervous in that I was not sure if I ever would see her again when she first left as she left work, very suddenly and only announced that she was not coming back a month after she had gone. I am nervous about what the future holds for myself my team and how managers will manage the situation concerning what work we can do, what needs to be done or what they consider no longer able to be done. It’s all still very much in the air with no decisions or plans being in the open or agreed upon, so speculation about what they can, will or should do is also futile due to the ‘though shall not disclose information clause at the top of this blog!
Though don’t get me wrong I really do enjoy working for my employee and it is far more enjoyable than being sick, jobless or working for an organisation where I do too much or even not enough, the work life balance is good and I work hard and feel I make a contribution to the organisation, I am mentally and possibly even physically healthier for having this job and for better or worse can’t presently see myself working anywhere else in Exeter at this moment in time. I do believe it is possible to be both constructive and critical about something both at the same time.
Well I hope I have been able to express myself whilst also not over divulging. Sometimes when I am not sure what to write on my blog, it’s because I know exactly what is bugging me but not sure how to express it in a way that is clear, allowed and appropriate.
So like a good little composting green machine I gather the fresh leaves and grass cuttings of my thoughts press them down, to where the previously gathered ideas have been left to mulch over in time and then see what comes out the other side in my writings. I then lay freshly made compost of ideas and see what new seeds of thought can grow from those that I have broken down.
Trying to find a solution to a problem is sometimes like trying to find the needle in a haystack and when you find a solution to the problem it might sting a little bit at first as a result of trying to get to the point!
My boss resigned last week after over 1 year of being in the job and after 1 month of being on sick leave for a variety of reasons. She simply lost the will to work at the council anymore and her understanding and interpretation of the situation meant she had valid reasons to seek out pastures new and ensure she could do something else that would enable her to heal and not continue to be unwell.
The senior management are already circling what is left of my team asking questions such as what should we do differently? Who should we hire next? Who do we need to hire? What problems are we going to get? What solutions can be found and finally what can they afford to do to solve the problems?
One of the crazy things is the team that we work for and causes me and my colleagues the most problems is one in which generates an income stream on its own through collecting of fees and processing payments, the problem is that there are not enough staff to process these payments efficiently, accurately and in a timely manner and at times such as school holidays and bank holidays like Easter then the staff want to book time off to recover, recuperate and enjoy themselves with their families leads to there being even less staff around to process those applications and take the payments. A member of that team also handed in there notice to leave today too and that will make things worse for me and my team as well as the team she is leaving.
So with all this going on and me thinking I am doing ok and ready for bed I go to bed feeling wide awake and write a to do list for myself for work and then start writing this blog post because I still cannot sleep.
I am the most long serving member of my team and have worked for two managers who have no left and 5 further members of staff since I started working there in July 2020, considering our team only has about 3 to 4 people in it at any one time that is quite a high staff turnover.
With the potential changes coming into force I am not sure yet if they will get a new manager for the team and the senior management team might just decide to split what is left of the team and allocate us to different areas to act directly as support staff to other manages rather than a central team of support staff. It could work well but if they are doing it as a money saving exercise rather than a problem solving one then their thought process will be flawed. So I have jotted down my ideas for a restructure on an email to myself for work and will forward them to a senior manager to look at in the morning.
I hope this post has managed to exorcise a few of my present demons so that I can try and get back to sleep now. Luckily I did not have access to the temptation of cigarettes or anything else to smoke tonight nor have I tried to do such things for what must be nearly some 15 years now, alas those where the days long time passed now!
So I have been quite busy for me over the last few weeks, no major dramas, which is nice and working hard in the office and at home, socialising when I have the energy and ability to and also visiting family now that my mum is back in Devon. It’s been enjoyable but I need to make sure I look after myself and rest at times like this too.
I have a new colleague in work that I am training up. His soical life puts mine to shame he was off to a stag do last weekend and he is off to Glastonbury Music Festival later this week then he has a wedding to go to the following week. Where as I’m just chilling in the local pub and visiting family. Though to be honest post pandemic I am still enjoying the simple things and times of freedom that I get to spend with people that I enjoy the company of.
It’s my birthday in a few weeks and normally I just dont do anything special, but this year I am hoping to have a meal with friends and family in Exeter and I have also just seen there is a horse race at a place called Newton Abbot in Devon and so I might go there too.
Such a wonderful quote and attitiude from Anne Frank
Well some upsetting news last week in my team at work, as they have been recruiting for a fulltime employee to come along and work with us. We have had two temporary members of staff doing an awesome job at getting work done in the office and really going the extra mile in order to get things done and answer the phones so that things get done and customers are served. Not every customer is ever happy, but to be honest in our department over 50% of the calls that come through to us are complaints anyway and it’s a matter of managing those complaints and signposting their enquiry to a person that will take them further or tell them that we can’t help.
Two of my colleagues went for the full time job that was being recruited for and they both were unsuccessful in their interviews and both told there services were no longer required at our office and one of them has until the end of this week to leave and the other will leave at the end of the first week in June.
I must repeat myself they were both very good at what they did and had undertaken a lot of training (mostly by me) which helped them be able to be as good as what they did. They were not only well trained they were keen to get the job done and jump in and rise to whatever challenge was presented to them in the job.
So we gain one new employee at the expense of losing two and our managers will call this progress. I will again attempt to help train up the new employee and ensure they are competent enough to ensure they can do the job properly but ultimately whether they are any good will be up to the new employee and will only be seen in time.
When I started in the team that I worked my two colleges had nearly 20 years each of experience in the team and were therefore blood good at what they did. I am now the most experienced member of the team and I have nowhere near as much experience as my predecessors. I know who to ask for help but will never know all the answers, though my job is not to know all the answers but to make sure I know who to assign a call or case to that will be able to provide those answers to and I can just about do that!
On the terrible day last week that my colleagues found out that they no longer had their jobs I also got in a bloody terrible argument in my local bar and that argument has hopefully now been resolved and out of respect to the person that I was arguing with I will not go into it further here, but at the very least I can say I hate disagreements and arguing with people.
But the situation in the bar my morose mood all combined into an unpleasant evening for one and all. I do hope the situation that led to the argument does not resurface again. Both myself and the person I was arguing with left on good terms after the argument and with any luck no further troubles will occur. I think with what he was going through it was probably a crap day for him too.
It was the icing on the cake to a really crappy day last Thursday.
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