Inside The Lives Of Amazon.com Warehouse Employees: Long Hours, Long Walks, And Heavy Lifting (PHOTOS)

What goes on behind the scenes at a giant online retailer like Amazon.com?

A job posting for openings at Amazon.com's largest "fulfillment center" in Coffeyville, Kansas offers a glimpse into the working lives of Amazon employees in charge of filling holiday orders at the online seller's offline warehouses.

Hoping to find people to help with the rush of holiday shopping, Amazon posted an add to to Express soliciting people to "come work the holiday season with Amazon.com at their largest fulfillment center" and noting that every year, Amazon.com "searches for over 1,000 smart, friendly and dedicated people with a strong work ethic."

The listing details several other qualifications for potential employees.

The post specifies that people involved in "Picking/Order Selection" are required to "stand on feet for 8-10 hours," and "walk 10-15 miles a day."

To do shipping, potential employees "must be able to stand on feet for 8-10 hours." And workers in 'receiving' are required to "stand fairly stationary throughout shift for 8-10 hours," while they also have to "lift, bend, stoop and squat repetitively."

The pay starts at $10.50 an hour for day shifts, and $11 an hour for nights.

According to a Tweet from Twitter user @JoelJohnson Amazon's hired hands during the holidays will be put up in an RV camp in the area of the Kansas warehouse:

During Xmas season, Amazon pays the camp fees for RV travelers to get them to come work in fulfillment centers. http://bit.ly/6sPTpL

Amazon.com has made news recently over some of its workplace practices.

The company was recently hit with a lawsuit alleging that the online retailer shorted employees on overtime pay they had earned. Reuters reports,

A former Amazon.com Inc worker has sued the online retailer, saying it shorts as many as 21,000 warehouse workers nationwide on overtime pay.

And last December, 2008, the Times wrote that Amazon was "punishing" its workers for falling ill, "making its staff work seven days a week and threatening them with the sack if they take time off sick."

The Times article reported finding these conditions in the Amazon warehouses in the UK. Employees were,

- Warned that the company refuses to allow sick leave, even if the worker has a legitimate doctor's note. Taking a day off sick, even with a note, results in a penalty point. A worker with six points faces dismissal.

- Made to work a compulsory 10-hour overnight shift at the end of a five-day week. The overnight shift, which runs from Saturday evening to 5am on Sunday, means they have to work every day of the week.

- Set quotas for the number of items to be picked or packed in an hour that even a manager described as 'ridiculous'. Those packing heavy Xbox games consoles had to pack 140 an hour to reach their target.

- Set against each other with a bonus scheme that penalises staff if any other member of their group fails to hit the quota.

- Made to walk up to 14 miles a shift to collect items for packing.

- Given only one break of 15 minutes and another of 20 minutes per eight-hour shift and told they had to notify staff when going to the toilet. Amazon said workers wanted the shorter breaks in exchange for shorter shifts.

See photos from Amazon.com's warehouses around the US below.

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Comments

[Mindleftnumb]

10:57 PM on 12/22/2009

GOD FORBID PEOPLE HAVE TO WORK HARD

[ibsteve2u]

02:12 AM on 12/27/2009

Most of the people who use that tone that I have met have two characteristics in common: The seats of their pants are shiny from sitting all day, and the backs of their shoes show the tell-tale scuffs incurred from resting their feet on their desks.

[Sara Luptowski]

07:18 AM on 12/14/2009

frcrynowtlowd......there's alredy a moral delema on whether i'm shopping at Walmart or NOT. now i have to 2nd gess Amazon aftr seeing this freekng compulsory mandatry 10hr shift that creates a 7day work week?
and yes, it shood make us stop in our traks and wonder....am i going to supprt this kind of treetment by throwing my hard-erned dollars at this kind of compny who treets employees like this in a recessn wher evry job is wrrth its wate in gold? (spel=med=disregard)

[dzagama]

02:13 AM on 12/15/2009

I pray to his Noodly Appendages (PBUHNA), that you typed that out on a cellphone.

[kbella]

04:38 AM on 12/14/2009

I don't see the big deal. I worked as a tour guide for Anheuser Busch and we got roughly the same breaks (one 15 minute break and one 30 minute break for every 8 hour shift). When I worked in the gift shop, we were on our feet all the time, often lifting heavy boxes or doing inventory. When I was doing tours, I was on my feet walking all day long. When I was working in the bar, we were not allowed to sit and we had to lift heavy kegs all day.

We had the same system of points, only we only got 5. You could use the points for personal days too, but if you reached 5 (in a 3 month period) you got the sack.

The compulsory quotas seem to be a bit much, I'll grant that. As does the overnight shift on Saturday in addition to 5 days of work. But the other stuff is fairly routine for this kind of job.

[MeYouMe]

02:25 AM on 12/14/2009

Unions are the downfall of this country.

[Chise67]

02:42 AM on 12/14/2009

Unions are the reason you have child labor laws, 401 k's, 40 hr. work weeks w/ overtime, prevailing wage, health & dental care etc. etc. You folks kill me that think unions are some evil plot to kill the American work force. With out the standards set forth because of the sacrifices our past brethren/sisters put in place, we would be just like China, India, Mexico etc. Oh, I forgot, this is the land of milk & honey where you can just go out & make your own job, be like Bill Gates even, huh? Why do you village idiots think there is only 1, get that, 1 Gates? Wake up & quit just spewing the garbage you HEAR about something, or maybe one bad apple & casting the rest w/the lot. People in this country won't be happy till your rights are mandatory 100 hr. work week, no health, no dental, no social security, no 401 k's and $5.50 per hour. That'll learn 'em, huh?

[akhk]

03:55 PM on 12/14/2009

Actually what will "learn em" is the fact that companies do not want unions so they offer those benefits anyway. You are correct, unions did have their place, and I am sure they are the reason we have what we have today, the difference is.....now its free!

[mapleaforever]

04:15 AM on 12/14/2009

Sure, more sweatshops and unsafe conditions are needed.

[MeYouMe]

02:21 AM on 12/14/2009

Cry me a river.

[thatguyworks]

01:11 AM on 12/14/2009

As someone who's earned paychecks on both sides of the blue/white collar line, I have to say this sounds like pretty typical factory/warehouse work. I suspect the righteous indignation apparent in the tone of this article, and in some of the comments, are from those unfamiliar with the environment.

This is how America gets its crap. The sincere lust for which employs real honest-to-goodness Americans.

It's light years beyond children getting ground up in a textile mill circa 1895. I suggest we all get used to it.

[carbolaw]

01:21 AM on 12/14/2009

I have also worked on both sides of this issue and have worked as in HR in both a unionized and union-free working environment, and have since moved on to represent employees. This story tells us of exploitation and abuse of working people and this does not have to exist. This would have never happened in the unionized working environment in which I was the Employee Relations manager nor any other unionized environment I have worked in or around. Sorry, but the attitude of just get used to it is why we have lost our manufacturing jobs, why only 1 in 4 US jobs pays a living wage with benefits, why so many workers in America die at or because of work, why we no longer have defined benefit pension plans and why we have a jobless recovery. Get used to it is the last thing we need to do. What we need to do is to stand up and stand together against the exploitation and abuse of the American working class. Now more than ever is the time for the American workers to organize and to take back our work places and as the vast majority of American citizens to take back our government - so that it is once again of, by and for the people.

[Banksy]

01:24 AM on 12/14/2009

Exactly.

If Amazon employees, who are also Americans desired change bad enough they would either get change or a job they like better. Same with everyone in America who chooses to paint themselves as victims. I worked as VP for a firm that actively sought to hire illegal immigrants and also discriminate on the basis of sex and religion... I put up a huge fuss and they didn't change -- now I work at an auto parts store!

[carbolaw]

12:29 AM on 12/14/2009

This is exactly why we need a strong labor movement. When union density is high, labor helps to set the working conditions of unionized and non-unionized workplaces. In addition, unions will also have much more political clout only when there is a much higher rate of union density. If you want economic policies that protect jobs and help working America, then you need to support the labor movement. Control is the reason for the opposition to EFCA. It has nothing to do with some commitment to the ideal of a "free election" to determine whether employees organize or not. Opposition is purely about corporations maintaining control of the workplace and the political arena. Everyone who works somewhere that is not organized should work to organize their workforce whether it is through a national, international union or simply through a union formed by the employees themselves.

[Hegemoneyhoney]

11:49 PM on 12/14/2009

American unions supported Bill Clinton - and he endorsed NAFTA, and other ills. "Globalization" urges corporations to move for the cheapest labor and conditions resulting in the destruction of American cities, towns and lives. Only when unionization is globalized will there be any meaningful labor movement and that may not happen -again - until the American middle-class is destroyed by oligarchs now entrenching an American plutocracy and the peasants are oppressed beyond tolerance. Unions are not inherently pure and honest, and management is not inherently evil and scurillous, but some with power will exploit mercilessly - whether within the union leadership or within management. If you really believe in unionizing, then why aren't you and American union leaders working to unionize workers in the very countries that American jobs have moved to? Because it's dangerous? The REAL labor heroes are the people within those countries who face real dangers in the face of horrific working conditions and still try to organize workers. Help them, if you believe in the cause, rather than this weak (and I suspect contrived) attack on Amazon's working conditions. There are Federal labor laws governing the kind of working conditions being charged against Amazon; I have trouble believing that these workers are on their feet for 12-16 hours a day, etc. etc. If they are, Amazon is violating the law and those workers have recourse. Lots of workers claim lots of things about their employers out of varied motivations; some of them may be true; some

[Hegemoneyhoney]

11:51 PM on 12/14/2009

Truncated post should have ended:

....some may be true, some baseless.

[cycodad]

12:06 AM on 12/14/2009

And we talk about CHINA and their SWEATSHOPS? Isn't this the same thing? Oh.... I forgot this is AMERICA so that is the difference.

[Hegemoneyhoney]

11:54 PM on 12/13/2009

Honest to Pete, it seems to me from the majority of comments being posted to this article about Amazon have never, ever worked a REAL job! Have NONE of you worked in a factory? Never done seasonal work at a retail store where you are hired for the Christmas season (like from mid-November to mid-January) and you are on your feet for LONG hours, few breaks, no paid sick time (it's SEASONAL, SHORT-TERM, FOLKS!), etc. etc. Have NONE of you ever really worked at a HARD job with low quality of "benefits"? These are not CAREERS, folks. Geez Louise, grow up.

And to all of you who say you will not shop at Wal Mart or Amazon? You must live where you have lots of choices and lots of extra cash. That is NOT most Americans!

[Chise67]

02:53 AM on 12/14/2009

If you believe amazon or wall-mart is cheaper, you either shop at ones that just opened, or are blind! They do the same thing everywhere, move in, sell lower, then when the competition is gone, go to the raised prices. They have monopoly money to play with, so you really need to wake up. And all this ,"this is how it is people", stuff is the defeatist attitudes that allow this cycle to perpetuate the American workforce. Must be a republic#nt!

[Hegemoneyhoney]

11:05 PM on 12/14/2009

Yes, one of the weak rejoinders of posters who refuse to think for him/herself, who parrot what they've read or heard, rather than observe and experience real life,who don't actually understand facts and who have a myopic view of American society: call other posters Republicans, call them trolls, say they must be Sarah Palin supporters, etc. etc. etc. Facile, weak - and false.

[Hegemoneyhoney]

11:21 PM on 12/14/2009

Part 1: I am not a supporter of WalMart but I am a pragmatist and a realist. I am also not a snob. I shop at WalMart and so do the "Mom and Pop" store operators in my town! I also know that the romantic notions of local "mom and pop" or so-called "independent" businesses is myth. I know this because I experience it and observe it and live it. If you don't want to shop at WalMart, don't. But for millions of Americans, WalMart is either the only place they shop or is one of very few places they shop - not because WalMart drove anybody in their locations out of business, but because WalMart is the only business in town that sells the everyday goods that people need to buy. WalMart gets scapegoated for a lot of ills of American business.

[manicore]

10:32 PM on 12/13/2009

Sounds like the Company we have here in Mn. It's called Lunds

[Stanley77]

10:04 PM on 12/13/2009

The owner of COSTCO, Seattle resident Jeffery Brotman, is constantly told by wall street stock analysts that he could get his workers for much less money. They think he is paying the stock owners rightfully earned dividends to the employees. His answer is that the quality of his work force is the factor that makes his company work, he needs these loyal and high quality employees; they earn the profit he is able to pay his stock holders.

[myjs]

11:11 PM on 12/13/2009

I love COSTCO.

[dsifso]

01:04 AM on 12/14/2009

Costco is a public company (Nasdaq : COST). Brotman is founder along with Jim Sinegal who is the now the CEO. Jim Sinegal is the one who is consistently quoted about the value of his employees.
But your point is valid: Costco consistently pays the highest wages in retail; among the best benefits and has one of the most productive workforces in the business.

[SgtLucifer]

09:14 PM on 12/13/2009

This Amazon model work environment is more prevalent in America than Americans care to confess.

[Goosed]

01:17 AM on 12/14/2009

I agree. I mean, I know the average Huff reader has a college degree and is reading this site during the 20% of their workday they waste on the internet, but is everyone so naive that as to not understand labor jobs entail...labor.

8-10 hours a day on your feet is the norm for millions of workers. The person at the checkout, your restaurant server, the gardener. Not everyone gets to sit in an office chair, not everyone gets an hour for lunch. The 6-day limit on sick leave sounds bad at first, but that's for workers added on during the holiday season. They have a one month gig, so over a year, that's 72 days of sick leave. Someone who misses that much work is not worth having around. Quotas are the norm for anyone in a manufacturing/delivery job.

As far as the lawsuit from a worker denied overtime, I'm skeptical. That's a common frivolous lawsuit. An employee is suing the place I work at for not being paid overtime. The person swapped shifts with another worker without telling the manager, which pusher her into overtime. She told the bosss, and the boss paid her. But because of the payroll system, the payment was labelled a bonus and not work hours. She's now claiming the bonus is actually hush money.

[Michael Albright]

08:13 PM on 12/13/2009

ahhh, now i see why they have used TP mixed in with the packing materials, and those brown peanuts, they are not packing peanuts at all....ewww! Give those poor folks more bathroom breaks!!

[bookwormmm]

06:30 PM on 12/13/2009

I am familiar with a small online business and the packer employed there. She receives twice the pay of these amazon workers, shorter work days, as many breaks as she wants, and no forced overtime.

However, Amazon is forcing this small business to abandon selling books because it just can't compete. When people see something at a higher cost, they might want to reflect on the fact that it's because small companies often provide better wages and conditions for their workers. It's all about what you wish to support--it's a choice between buying a little less and paying a little more to support small business, or buying a mountain load of stuff at the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, there is a cost--not dollars, but human.

I have begun slimming my consumption in favor of supporting small business...and I absolutely NEVER shop Walmart. I don't care if I lose my job and can only afford Walmart clothes and food. I'd rather become a hunter and wear rags than support those who have implemented an unfavorable environment, not only in the U.S., but around the world.

[MsCuda]

08:40 PM on 12/13/2009

Ditto--I don't order from Amazon. I'd rather support a book store etc. locally.

[gal416]

06:14 PM on 12/13/2009

To play the devil's advocate; If you don't like it work someplace else. We can take this operation to Mexico where people work 15 hours a day for a fraction of what we pay Americans and get the same ship times.

[seattle music]

06:16 PM on 12/13/2009

Yeah, that's it.

Destroy America's middle class and you destroy Amazon's MARKET.

Hello?

[dzagama]

07:06 PM on 12/13/2009

...

Until you have a competitor that actually does that, and puts Amazon out of business, negating ALL of Amazon's jobs.

It's a tricky thing, trying to eek out a morality tale with Capitalism.

Same with evolution. Are the lions cubs murderers? How about the Venus Fly Traps?

Tough, tough, tough...

[belyeu]

08:38 PM on 12/13/2009

To further be the devils advocate.

America is in decline because of greed.

[dzagama]

03:39 AM on 12/14/2009

To further, further be devil's advocate.

America *rose* because of greed.