Ever Worked at Amazon?
I just watched this video about an Amazon whistleblower on Infowars YT channel. Being an former employee, I was curious about he had to say. He was absolutely correct. The working conditions are absolutely horrible. Abuse runs rampant through every level of the company. Actually doing your job can and will get you written up or fired (among a myriad of other actions). Numbers are everything. When the company wants you there, you better be there. PTO (Paid time Off) and vacation time are expected to be used to fill in for time they may not have work. VTO (Voluntary Time Off) isn't always voluntary, and if used for a short respite from the grinding hell, will be used as ammunition to get you out the door. If you haven't already guessed, I didn't enjoy my time there, and this post is my story.
I always chuckle when I hear about the big Amazon hiring events. A more apt name would be a firing and to hell with this job event. Most people that begin their "new career" at Amazon will only last a week. A few more will make it a month or two, an even smaller faction will be there in six months. 30 people started in my group. In the few months I worked there, only 3 (including myself) were left. Most of them just quit. The rest were terminated. One guy that I had gotten to know was fired because he was too slow. He was doing a good job and really wanted to work there. He thought that the quality of his work would prove his worth. But sadly he couldn't figure out how to appease the quota system and still do a good job. I honestly didn't think they would fire him. Most companies use a write up to get an employee's attention. He was written up 3 times within a week. That surely got my attention.
I kind of feel like Amazon suckered me in, to be honest. A recruiter noticed my resume online and gave me a call. I actually turned them down three times. A forty mile one way drive down a busy interstate didn't appeal to me. They told me Amazon was opening a new facility and really needed someone with my skills (driving various lift equipment) to work on the dock. It's the "perfect opportunity" to come aboard. I would have seniority and get to work the first crew in the building. It would be a great opportunity to get to know management and get on the fast track for promotions. who knows, maybe we could send you to other facilities to help train the new hires. Company pays all expenses, of course. Hmm, not to bad a deal. I'm a good worker. I can see the logic in starting out with a new crew. I decided to do it.
Three weeks later I finally get a start date. I'm expecting to be a dock worker, mind you. But no. Those positions are filled. They stick me into a position they call "stower", until something opens up on the dock. This consists of grabbing items from a bin, scanning it with a RF gun, placing it into another bin which gets scanned as well. Sounds simple, yes? Actually, it is. I have no problems hitting quota. My manager is encouraging me to apply for "Ambassador" (I didn't, and am thankful) so I can help train others and give them tips on how to speed up production. So far, so good. Things are going swimmingly at this point.
Two weeks go by and the manager inexplicably quits. The one manager at Amazon that was actually a decent human being. A week later, the associate whom I mentioned earlier got canned. All the while our group dwindled down to about half. At this point management began complaining about people coming back two minutes (yes, literally 2 minutes) late from break. Now, mind you, we had to walk almost a quarter mile to get to either a break room or outside (within a few feet of each other) to grab a quick smoke. We were given a 15 minute break, it took myself (a long legged 6' 3", walking at a fast pace) 5 minutes to walk outside, and 5 minutes to walk back. Management would literally stand in the aisle, clap their hands, and verbally prod us back our stations. Every two hours the "Ambassadors" would walk around and tell each of us our "numbers", if we were on track, or needed to speed up. The noose was slowly closing. By this point I had given up on inspecting or double checking items. I was grabbing and scanning as fast as I could. Mistakes didn't seem to matter as much as throughput.
The managers are sadistic douche bags. My first encounter with this came when a new manager was being trained. The supervisor of the area we working in told us we could go easy on our backs by setting the bins on the floor in front of us while scanning into lower bins. I was doing precisely this when this new guy walked up to me and said to put my bin back on the cart. I explained to him that the supervisor approved this. He responded in a smart-assed tone "I don't care what he said, it's against policy!" I wanted to.......... To continue, after he walked away, I decided to go to the restroom. Mostly to cool off. As I walked around the aisle, there are the two "managers" walking slowly down the main aisle. The trainer is goading the trainee into blatantly harassing others. "Look, there's one. GO GET HIM! Sic Balls.! Sick Balls!" That's the Amazon way. As a side note, I was at the HR desk and overheard this guy telling another "I only watch violent videos on YT. There's something about other peoples pain that I enjoy." Scumbags.
Humiliation is part of it too. I will never forget the first night of stowing sex toys. The coworker that was stowing next to me decided to break the tension by grabbing a big, black dildo, swinging it around and making lewd comments. We were laughing and figured it was a once-in-a-while thing. Not so. The next night I was working with female coworkers when the sex toys came into play. Awkward. Degrading. Happens all the time. And it's something I never got used to.
Security around those places are a joke. They talk a lot about "keeping our employees safe". A coworker posed an interesting question one day: What would keep someone from bringing a gun to work and shooting everybody? The answer turned out to be "not much". You see, when the building is entered, as long as a person possesses a working badge they can freely enter the facility and go wherever they like. When exiting you must empty your pockets and pass through a metal detector. If it goes off, security will further check your person to make sure you are not carrying anything OUT. It's okay to bring stuff in, but don't carry anything out that doesn't belong to you.
The pizza parties suck. The very "night of the dueling dildos" , our manager told everyone if we hit our overall goal he would buy us pizza. Most of us didn't really care. Pizza? Big deal. My coworker decided he wanted a pizza party. He jazzed up a few of us and we started a game of "who can stow the most". We hit our goal. Pizza for all. When it came time to eat, this coworker went out to smoke before he ate. He had been looking forward to pizza. By the time I stopped to wash my hands and made it to the break area, there was one (yes 1) piece of pizza left. 10 pizzas. 10. Every slacker in the warehouse had rushed to pile their plates full. The managers stood and watched, and even did so themselves. The guy that motivated the few that worked to attain the goal, didn't get any of that pizza and the managers didn't give a flaming crap. Mr. Motivation didn't return.
Doing your job well doesn't matter. There are some items that are small. Really small. Like necklaces stuffed into a tiny zip-lock bag small. These items have to be laid out in such a way that they cant slide out of their bins. One night a group of noobies started and one of them was stowing a few stations down from mine. These bins are moved around by "robots", which sound more impressive than they are. These bins are stacked in a fenced area where the robots move them around. Some of these bins are moved pretty good distances and many pass across multiple stations before being stacked in a row. This new person didn't know how to stack these small items. When their bin passed by my station, most of these necklaces fell in the floor and maintenance had to be called. The tech made a snide remark about how I need to learn how to stack. I bit my tongue. After he left, the supervisor came over and began explaining how to stack these items. I politely told her that it wasn't my bin, I think it was the new persons a few stations down. she said "I'm explaining how to stack small items so YOU will KNOW next time." Grrrr.... Needless to say it was long night, that wasn't the only mess made by this person, and there were a few other upset workers getting "trained" for absolutely no reason. The offending party didn't need additional "training".
VTO and MOT (Mandatory Overtime) are nothing more than tools to screw over the employees. There were a few times I would drive to work (at least an hour, with traffic), only to be met with a supervisor and Ambassador yelling "VTO, VTO!" The first time this happened, I refused. I needed the money. I quickly realized my mistake. I spent the next 10 hours sweeping, moving pallets, and chasing down a supervisor asking for additional work. I quickly got the message. MOT was even worse. They would let you know in plenty of time, but after working the overtime, they would send you home a different day, or cut back your hours during that pay period to avoid paying time and a half.
My wife and I booked a cruise. I spoke to my manager and got his blessing. Onsite HR helped me organize my paid time.
I discussed our trip with the coworkers I was friendly with, and even called the main HR office to let them know. I walked out of the place on Friday a solid employee. Have a good time, see ya when you get back. I should have kept walking.
After returning home, I checked my time. It disappeared. I was within 12 hours of being canned. After returning to work, I was met with everyone asking me why I had quit. WTF? I went to HR and they were demanding proof I actually went on a cruise. Two weeks later, I never went back. During that time-frame I had been isolated, given every big item to stow, written up, and even had work taken away. I had been driven to the breaking point. Enough was enough.
When I look back on that 6 months, I wish I had it back. At least I left before "peak season". One could only imagine the new levels of hades that are spawned during that time. If you have anything to add, post it below. I am interested in hearing from other Amazon employees. Thank you for reading.