Amazon work hours8/7/2023 During peak, I was required to work 11 to 11 1/2 hours a day, and the average package seemed to be between 4 and 6 pounds. My rate floated between probably 220 and 380 packages an hour. On any given day, I probably lifted around 6 tons of packages If managers cannot even keep up the enthusiasm to rattle plastic clappers for 10 minutes while employees walk in for an 11-hour shift, it's setting such a bad example for everyone. It's surprising to me that since Amazon has had peaks for 25 years at this point, people should be very aware of how high emotions run during this period. And then by the end, it's just human resources. By the middle, you're barely enthused to even show up. It was almost like a microcosm of the entire emotional experience of peak: You'd begin on this high it's all thrilling and whatnot. By the end there was simply a human-resources desk where people could line up and register their complaints to HR. It was like entering the Super Bowl you felt heroic, like, "Whoa, we're going to do this great thing."Īs peak wore on, though, it eventually dwindled down to two managers and then none - no clapping, no songs. There were six managers standing at the front door, shaking plastic clappers as we walked in through a balloon arch while thumping techno music played. The first day of peak was actually kind of exciting. I worked 'peak' - the time between Black Friday and Christmas The fact that the security gates in an Amazon warehouse are on exit and not upon entry, in order to trap people from stealing iPhones and stuff, shows that the greatest assets really are the goods moving into that warehouse, not the people. I've always worked for companies that have claimed that people are their greatest asset. I'm sure these decisions aren't taken lightly they're million-dollar decisions. I don't understand why even a person whose job is stationary does not get a chair in the warehouse. The most frequent name I was ever called was Peter my name is Philip.Īlmost every horizontal suitable surface in the warehouse, like the step ladders that are very nice for sitting on, is labeled with a custom sticker that says, "Do not sit." Even the team leads, who primarily monitor computers throughout their entire shift, do not have chairs. At Amazon, I never once met my manager, and no one knew my name. It just goes to show how vastly different employees are treated in different parts of the industry. Su worked in an Amazon warehouse for seven weeks. I contrast that with joining a place like Microsoft, where I got T-shirts and hoodies and stuff on my first day, or a place like Facebook, where I got an iPhone Plus and a MacBook Pro on my first day. On my first day, I was given a hot-and-cold compress, some sort of sports drink, a COVID cloth mask with the Amazon smile on it, and one serving of a pain medication - all in a Ziploc gallon-size freezer bag. I spent 7 weeks working on the warehouse floor, making $18.55 an hour In November 2021, I applied to work at the local warehouse, which also happens to be Amazon's flagship here in Seattle. Part of me wondered, could it really be that bad? Lastly, I wanted to understand my own sort of societal footprint when it comes to my own consumption, and what that means for employees - for people's lives. I was honestly also a little skeptical of the articles you read about employees being unable to pee and other things. I've been convinced that robots will put us all out of jobs. And I was curious about Amazon for a few reasons.įirst, in addition to having been an Amazon customer for like 25 years, I was curious about robotization and what it's doing to our society and future of work. It felt like the one thing I really needed for myself was some structure - wake-up times, some exercise - just to get out there somehow. I decided to take a warehouse job at Amazon I sometimes wouldn't get out of bed until noon or even 2 p.m. I decided to step away and focus on getting better.īut after being unemployed for a good six to eight months, I actually ended up feeling even worse. I wasn't sleeping well at all and was feeling very down. But during that last year, I really struggled with seasonal depression - something I'd been dealing with for probably 20-plus years living in Seattle. I'd started a nonprofit in Seattle in 2018, building free software for global health, and I'd run it for three years. His words have been edited for length and clarity. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Philip Su, a former Facebook and Microsoft exec and CEO who took an Amazon warehouse job after a 23-year tech career left him "paralyzed" by depression and burnout. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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