5 ms·

Warehouse work sucks. Amazon's warehouse work is above average for warehouse work.

skyyler 7y ago
By what metric? I have friends that have been working warehouses in Ohio since the early 2000s and they have vented frustrations to me about how Amazon is causing a race to the bottom for warehouse labor. I've heard a lot of horror stories about Amazon warehouses. I'm sure a lot of it is FUD or whatever, but it seems that even Walmart has better conditions.
- hanniabu 7y ago
  Have you ever been in a real warehouse? One that's baking in the sun in the summer, no AC because it's too costly, probably 100 degrees inside, no ventilation, pallet dust everywhere and you get a nice inhale when something is moved on the floor, not being in a technologically present company where machines break constantly and you need to do a lot of manual work in these conditions lifting a 35lb box every 8-12 seconds for 12 hours....
  - vernie 7y ago
    No true warehouse.
    - hanniabu 7y ago
      This warehouse in specific that I'm referencing is operated by a Fortune 100 company.
  - mjparrott 7y ago
    Yes, this was my first job as an 'employee' of a staffing company. They took $11/hour and gave me $7/hour to re-package and re-palletize boxes of P&G products. Literally we would open a box of 4 shampoo bottles, take the bottles out and then repackage then into a box of 6 bottles and stack them back up on a pallet. To open the boxes we put them on a conveyor belt that went through an oven to melt the glue on the box. I had to stand at the exit of the oven and grab the scalding hot glue and rip the tape off the boxes as fast as I possibly could. The scalding hot glue would stick to your hands while hot air was blowing in your face out of the oven. No AC. 8 hour shift 7 to 3 with no lunch break, only two 15 minute breaks to use the bathroom (couldn't go otherwise). No AC in the warehouse in the hot summer in the midwest. Another fun job was to re-palletize boxes. A forklift operator would lay an empty pallet on the ground, then put a row of 25 full pallets next to it in a long row. You had to unstack the 2nd pallet onto the empty one using a new stacking pattern that was more stable. Then the 2nd pallet would be empty. Repeat the process down the row as fast as you can go getting cuts on your hands from the cardboard boxes, leaning over your back lifting heavy boxes without AC in a hot warehouse.
    - hanniabu 7y ago
      Ahhhh, reminiscing of the good ol' days!
    - Noumenon72 7y ago
      My plastic factory issued Kevlar gloves, which prevent cuts from cardboard boxes and actually let you work faster due to not having to be careful. A good example where my happiness and business success were linked. Sorry it didn't work out in your case. I would like for those kind of jobs are staffed by a staffing company so people can cycle through them rather than having to do it full time. I can put up with a lot for a few weeks at a time.
adrianmonk 7y ago
This is an important question when deciding whether it's a good idea to boycott Amazon over warehouse conditions. If true, and if you still buy the same stuff from other retailers (because you still need a coffee maker, for example), the effect is to force warehouse workers into worse jobs.
SAT2_Jordan 7y ago
I'm an Amazon Fulfillment Center worker. I've worked here for two years. Part of my job right now is social media but I assure you that these opinions are my own. I'll answer the twelve questions about my job: 1. Do I know what is expected of me at work? -Expectations are very clear. It's hard to complicate warehouse work I suppose. 2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? -Usually, though sometimes day shift doesn't return the hand scanners and I have to look for one, and that sort of thing. 3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? -My managers have made an effort to place me where I am most useful. I was slow at one job so they moved me to a more detail-oriented, slower-paced task. (From stow to count, for those who have worked here. After a few months in count, I learned to pick, though I still count sometimes.) 4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work? -I regularly receive feedback. Amazon has "e-swag" which is a point system for doing things well and hitting productivity goals. Points can be redeemed for things like T-shirts. I use my points for grocery store gift cards. 5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? -My managers have been very friendly. A former manager transferred back to my building yesterday after living in a different state for awhile, and he made an effort to stick around and say hi to me after his shift. My current manager and I like to meow at each other like cats in passing. 6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development? -People are generally encouraging and uplifting here. We talk to each other and recommend applying for positions that open up, and give helpful tips so people can do their jobs better. 7. At work, do my opinions seem to count? -This is the area that I think Amazon should improve on most. The chain of command is difficult to navigate for an entry-level worker who wants to recommend a change in policy. Lots of opinions and suggestions don't seem to make it to the people who are in a position to act on them. But my immediate supervisors tend to be very responsive to suggestions within their power to act on. 8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important? -I feel like I'm doing honest work here, getting orders out to the customers. I see it as a valuable, necessary contribution to society and I take pride in my job, though I do not see this as my vocation. 9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? -Many of them are, but Amazon will basically hire anyone. The people who stick around make an effort to do their jobs well. 10. Do I have a best friend at work? -There are many people I look forward to seeing at work every day! I'm always making new friends here! 11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress? -I feel like this is the same as #4. We get regular productivity feedback. There's not a lot of room for "progress" when you're doing the same thing every day, besides when the opportunity arises to learn a new task. 12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow? -Amazon regularly trains people to do different tasks around the facility. They also offer opportunities for advancement, as well as career skills classes on-site. I'm on an interest list for a CDL class and I just submitted an application to be a trainer. I also had the opportunity to do this social media job! But, at the end of the day, it's still warehouse work. I haven't worked in a different warehouse but a few coworkers have. The combined pay and benefits seem to be above average.

By what metric? I have friends that have been working warehouses in Ohio since the early 2000s and they have vented frustrations to me about how Amazon is causing a race to the bottom for warehouse labor. I've heard a lot of horror stories about Amazon warehouses. I'm sure a lot of it is FUD or whatever, but it seems that even Walmart has better conditions.

hanniabu 7y ago
Have you ever been in a real warehouse? One that's baking in the sun in the summer, no AC because it's too costly, probably 100 degrees inside, no ventilation, pallet dust everywhere and you get a nice inhale when something is moved on the floor, not being in a technologically present company where machines break constantly and you need to do a lot of manual work in these conditions lifting a 35lb box every 8-12 seconds for 12 hours....
- vernie 7y ago
  No true warehouse.
  - hanniabu 7y ago
    This warehouse in specific that I'm referencing is operated by a Fortune 100 company.
- mjparrott 7y ago
  Yes, this was my first job as an 'employee' of a staffing company. They took $11/hour and gave me $7/hour to re-package and re-palletize boxes of P&G products. Literally we would open a box of 4 shampoo bottles, take the bottles out and then repackage then into a box of 6 bottles and stack them back up on a pallet. To open the boxes we put them on a conveyor belt that went through an oven to melt the glue on the box. I had to stand at the exit of the oven and grab the scalding hot glue and rip the tape off the boxes as fast as I possibly could. The scalding hot glue would stick to your hands while hot air was blowing in your face out of the oven. No AC. 8 hour shift 7 to 3 with no lunch break, only two 15 minute breaks to use the bathroom (couldn't go otherwise). No AC in the warehouse in the hot summer in the midwest. Another fun job was to re-palletize boxes. A forklift operator would lay an empty pallet on the ground, then put a row of 25 full pallets next to it in a long row. You had to unstack the 2nd pallet onto the empty one using a new stacking pattern that was more stable. Then the 2nd pallet would be empty. Repeat the process down the row as fast as you can go getting cuts on your hands from the cardboard boxes, leaning over your back lifting heavy boxes without AC in a hot warehouse.
  - hanniabu 7y ago
    Ahhhh, reminiscing of the good ol' days!
  - Noumenon72 7y ago
    My plastic factory issued Kevlar gloves, which prevent cuts from cardboard boxes and actually let you work faster due to not having to be careful. A good example where my happiness and business success were linked. Sorry it didn't work out in your case. I would like for those kind of jobs are staffed by a staffing company so people can cycle through them rather than having to do it full time. I can put up with a lot for a few weeks at a time.

adrianmonk 7y ago

This is an important question when deciding whether it's a good idea to boycott Amazon over warehouse conditions. If true, and if you still buy the same stuff from other retailers (because you still need a coffee maker, for example), the effect is to force warehouse workers into worse jobs.

SAT2_Jordan 7y ago

I'm an Amazon Fulfillment Center worker. I've worked here for two years. Part of my job right now is social media but I assure you that these opinions are my own. I'll answer the twelve questions about my job: 1. Do I know what is expected of me at work? -Expectations are very clear. It's hard to complicate warehouse work I suppose. 2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? -Usually, though sometimes day shift doesn't return the hand scanners and I have to look for one, and that sort of thing. 3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? -My managers have made an effort to place me where I am most useful. I was slow at one job so they moved me to a more detail-oriented, slower-paced task. (From stow to count, for those who have worked here. After a few months in count, I learned to pick, though I still count sometimes.) 4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work? -I regularly receive feedback. Amazon has "e-swag" which is a point system for doing things well and hitting productivity goals. Points can be redeemed for things like T-shirts. I use my points for grocery store gift cards. 5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? -My managers have been very friendly. A former manager transferred back to my building yesterday after living in a different state for awhile, and he made an effort to stick around and say hi to me after his shift. My current manager and I like to meow at each other like cats in passing. 6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development? -People are generally encouraging and uplifting here. We talk to each other and recommend applying for positions that open up, and give helpful tips so people can do their jobs better. 7. At work, do my opinions seem to count? -This is the area that I think Amazon should improve on most. The chain of command is difficult to navigate for an entry-level worker who wants to recommend a change in policy. Lots of opinions and suggestions don't seem to make it to the people who are in a position to act on them. But my immediate supervisors tend to be very responsive to suggestions within their power to act on. 8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important? -I feel like I'm doing honest work here, getting orders out to the customers. I see it as a valuable, necessary contribution to society and I take pride in my job, though I do not see this as my vocation. 9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? -Many of them are, but Amazon will basically hire anyone. The people who stick around make an effort to do their jobs well. 10. Do I have a best friend at work? -There are many people I look forward to seeing at work every day! I'm always making new friends here! 11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress? -I feel like this is the same as #4. We get regular productivity feedback. There's not a lot of room for "progress" when you're doing the same thing every day, besides when the opportunity arises to learn a new task. 12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow? -Amazon regularly trains people to do different tasks around the facility. They also offer opportunities for advancement, as well as career skills classes on-site. I'm on an interest list for a CDL class and I just submitted an application to be a trainer. I also had the opportunity to do this social media job! But, at the end of the day, it's still warehouse work. I haven't worked in a different warehouse but a few coworkers have. The combined pay and benefits seem to be above average.