[Closed] Amazon working conditions

Sounds awful. Much harder than working in the pits, docks or heavy industry like their grandparents.

Yip, imagine having to walk 11 miles? Must be awful for them.

Poor loves....they should have benches scattered around for them to sit on and a 'Union Board' so they can start to think the world owes them a living.....

To me it does sound quite a demanding job. To what extent I don't know... But why do we jump on the attack here.
I do not know a great deal about stress disorders but I know it can effect people from all walks of life. You don't need to be a white collar manager working long hours to get it, there seems to be a stigma about a working class person having stress issues.

Yeah your right. Lets go back to the good old days. Those Unions interfering and stopping free market economics. They are probably only illegal immigrants anyway.

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Any of you lot ever worked in warehousing on a shop floor level.?

11 miles is about the same as some posties.

They do it outside, in all weathers.

And this is news? I did warehouse jobs exactly like this 20 years ago. It was exactly the same then. Amazon didn't invent them. Minimum wage? Check. Walking miles? Check. Mind-numbing tedium. All present and correct

Sounds to me more like some middle class researcher at the BBC has just discovered that - SHOCK!!! HORROR!!!! - not everyone's job is as cushy as his

If you want to moan about Amazon, moan about something worthwhile, like the tax they don't pay! 🙄

"I managed to walk or hobble nearly eleven miles, just short of eleven miles last night. I'm absolutely shattered.

I worked in this warehouse for 3 years,go me!!

It's not the miles walked its.....'You have thirty five seconds to pick this parcel.. Beep..beep..beep..beep..beep.. You have forty seconds to pick this parcel..beep..beep..beep..you have failed to pick this parcel in the allotted time.. You're manager has been informed.. Beep..beep..beep'..... For ten hours.. Working for tax avoiding arseholes..
I'd kill someone..

I did this kind of job for a year at a book resller but not Amazon when I had been out of work and desperate for nearly 18 months.

It was the hardest job I've ever done, you're on your feet for 8 hours 20 mins lunch break and two 10 min breaks. Up and down ladders, carrying books and totes in dirty conditions for minimum wage and no sick pay.

And because you're not on a living wage you get topped up by the government so its subsidised . If you don't hit your target of 600 books then you get a warning. Soul destroying

He was probably shattered because he's a desk jockey normally. Took me six months to get used to the physical side of work when I started in retail, and that was only in a decent sized record shop. My wife works for one of the big UK retailers and one of her colleagues wore a pedometer one day and it reckoned she walked 8 miles every day.

In some ways I miss retail as I could eat anything and not put weight on. Now I eat carefully and because I'm not active it's hard not to put weight on (in an office 80% of time).

Amazon looks like a decent place to work to me! Especially as a temp job at nights.

Making someone mentally I'll? Get a grip! I've heard of more people off with stress in my current job in the last year than 12 years in retail.

It's not the physical component that is the problem though

It's the mental side of it.

The point I was making in the 1st post was that I would go and work in fast food outlet for a similar wage rather than do this.

11 miles is about the same as some posties.

A postie has good far better job than this, they can't be compared.

TBH the main issue with these jobs is the lack of security.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ed6a985c-70bd-11e2-85d0-00144feab49a.html#slide0

This was a much better, more insightful piece. Amazon rely too heavily on rotating agency staff or short-term contract staff rather than creating permanent positions.

Nevertheless, given a choice between this or call centre work in S Wales with that **** Nev, I'd be behind my little Amazon trolley in an instant. Call centre work is far more dehumanising IMO, and doesn't use an extra 1000 calories a day.

Making someone mentally I'll? Get a grip! I've heard of more people off with stress in my current job in the last year than 12 years in retail.

This is not high street retail though is it?

My Mrs works in retail and I know it can be quite a physical job but it is also social with a lot of interaction between staff and customers, not a bleeping bar code scanner.

Have you ever actually been in Maccy D's? You think that looks nice, stress free, highly paid, and relaxing?

If this kind of thing causes you mental illness then you're clearly not equipped with the faculties to deal with modern living

Give it 20 years and the whole process will be mechanised. Get your hand-wringing in while you can.

I know someone who works in this warehouse, he is a chippy by trade and work dried up so he went there. First 6 weeks he was broken, huge blisters on his feet, getting the worst runs etc. He stuck at it and got better runs and learnt the tricks and has now been taken on permanently as a supervisor. Turnover of staff is huge.

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Health and Safety!

Main issue for me is that a tax avoiding company making enormous profits doesn't pay a living wage.

Why are we subsidising Amazon's profits when they don't even pay tax!?

They should have scooters with basket on the front, cure the mental issue as they would all have fun and speed up collections.

They could even build in little ramps to keep them entertained.

I don't know. It sounds ok to me as far as agency work goes, at least you know what your goal for the day is.

I'd rather that than working down a mine.

Got to laugh at the compulsive internet users telling actual hard-working people they've got it easy.

Why are we subsidising Amazon's profits when they don't even pay tax!?

Because of the brilliant jobs they offer our citizens! Oh, hang on...

Have you ever actually been in Maccy D's? You think that looks nice, stress free, highly paid, and relaxing?

Yep, I've even worked in them - plus I've also done precisely this kind of warehousing job. The two aren't even remotely, vaguely, slightly comparable. If I were to end up losing my job and not be able to find another I'd happily work in retail, including fast food, but I'd try my absolute best to avoid warehousing work.

It's the mental side of it.

TBH the main issue with these jobs is the lack of security.

Sounds like a normal job in the private sector, and the stress issues of having to get to the next parcel in x number of seconds sound quite trivial.

Give them rollerblades...

I'd rather that than working down a mine.

I'd rather do it than digging up corpses in recent former war zones to try to find gold teeth.

Why are we subsidising Amazon's profits when they don't even pay tax!?

Because the economy relies on it.

Might not be right but its unavoidable in the current set up. Without the governement subsidising jobs like this then we can't have our cheap consumer products but we also miss out on cheap essentials like food (don't kid your self that every warehouse isn't like this). So if we stop subsidising these jobs the cost of living goes up which means a living wage now needs to be even higher.

It might not be right but we are so far down that road.

I worked in retail for a good few year, mixture of roles including a bit of warehouse work during busy periods to help out.

It can be physically demanding dirty work. I don't envy anyone who has to do it full time. There are definitely easier ways to earn minimum wage

I'd rather do it than digging up corpses in recent former war zones to try to find gold teeth

At least you won't have a hand held terminal telling you that you have '60...45....30...seconds' to find your next gold tooth.

I'd rather that than working down a mine.

Why? 1st World Miners, whats left of them, are skilled workers who have well paid jobs, generally with a decent package, pension etc. They have a physical job, work in shitty conditions and are paid to reflect that. Some may say not paid enough, some say paid too much.

I would work down the pit before those warehouses.

Amazon said the safety of its workers was its "number one priority."

[i]Give it 20 years and the whole process will be mechanised. Get your hand-wringing in while you can[/i]

Its proably cheaper to pay disposable staff the minimum wage than invest in the automation. But then thes staff aren't really human are they? just economic units in a process. And when they break there are plenty of cheap replacements.

I wouldn't like to work at a place where the company places more value in the hand held scanner than the person holding it.

Nevertheless, given a choice between this or call centre work in S Wales with that **** Nev, I'd be behind my little Amazon trolley in an instant

I know someone who used to work for Amazon - I also know someone who works in the 'Call Centre' albeit in HR. The one at the call centre enjoys her job and says the boss is a real character and there is a good atmosphere at work. The one at Amazon said the opposite.

Sounds like a normal job in the private sector, and the stress issues of having to get to the next parcel in x number of seconds sound quite trivial.

Nothing further from the truth.

If you have a contract with notice etc. trying to compare it with agency, where they can and do fire on the spot!

As for x seconds, they will have calculated how long it takes, want a drink tough. Not sure what they do about toilet breaks, but have known places time people on that one. Too many or too long and your fired.

TBH the mileage walked isn't really an issue, you do get used to it. Place i worked the job was walking back and forth 5-8m on the end of a steel mill for 8 hours. Concrete floor steel top cap boots what fun!

I've done loads of warehouse jobs in the past.
As has been said, its physically hard & mentally draining cos its so dull.

MTFU.

Quite looking forward to reading this later.

Just for the record my last stint in a proper warehouse. Entry level pay on my (day time) shift was £18k.

11 miles isnt that far, I took it as a job benefit. Not a negative.

I did ware-housing work for a summer. You either learn to switch your brain off and get through the day or you don't. Minimum wage? Check. It's not difficult, just tedious.

Grum makes an excellent point about subsidising the payroll of a tax-dodging corporate behemoth that's putting smaller companies out of business, but all we can do is not buy from Amazon.

The "I've got blisters so can't come in" bunch would be unlikely to last in any job. Wear thicker socks.

I know someone who used to work for Amazon - I also know someone who works in the 'Call Centre' albeit in HR. The one at the call centre enjoys her job and says the boss is a real character and there is a good atmosphere at work. The one at Amazon said the opposite.

I certainly believe you. That was my own perspective - I'd find the call centre work soul-destroying because of the constant need for fake human interaction. I'd much prefer the anonymous picking job, however more physically demanding it was.

Imagine a world where all the shops (and hence all retail jobs) are like amazon or in fact ARE Amazon.

That's Amazon's game plan.

Nothing further from the truth.

If you have a contract with notice etc. trying to compare it with agency, where they can and do fire on the spot!

there are loads of little companies abusing the rules.

I worked for a small software house run by a husband/wife team.

Worked there 9 months until I got canned - they had a core staff of 15 and there were 9 sackings in that time - policy was to scare people into working real hard and then sack them anyway.

Mate was there for 3 years because he was sales support, and so client facing. He married another girl in sales support there. They sacked her because she couldn't work the weekend as her parents were visiting, and then they were surprised when my mate resigned !

"And this is news? I did warehouse jobs exactly like this 20 years ago. It was exactly the same then. Amazon didn't invent them. Minimum wage? Check. Walking miles? Check. Mind-numbing tedium. All present and correct"

Liar. There wasn't a minimum wage in the UK twenty years ago. Did you make all the rest up too?

Grum makes an excellent point about subsidising the payroll of a tax-dodging corporate behemoth that's putting smaller companies out of business, but all we can do is not buy from Amazon.

This.

Unfortunately, many people would rather get a product as cheaply as possible rather than support a good local business. I've bought 1 product from Amazon a couple of years ago and I will try to not use them again because of the way they operate.

Edit - I don't think the job is overly difficult or stressful but it still isn't a great job. Are there any great jobs in this sector or any other low paid jobs?

I have never worked there so cannot comment, I would imagine it would be quite hot and sticky though.