IamA I work at a Amazon fulfillment center AMA!

Just how many Amazons can you fulfill in a night?

The warehouse which I work at is much smaller then the one down the street, during half our shift which is 5 hours until lunch. We shipped out almost 6K packages which is "alright" according to management, during peak we will most likely ship out triple the amount. But they're still are hiring more people daily and I heard they're looking to hire 8K+ more people.

Why do we get massive boxes for small items? Seems like a crazy waste.

That's what the computer shows use. There was a time where it was lotion and it was asking me to put it in the biggest box there is. Sometimes the system is messed up.

so is there anything we can do to help prevent this?

Nothing you can really do, best thing to do is leave feedback to them.

Hey! There are plenty of rumors floating about poor treatment of fulfillment labor. Do you like it there? Are you treated well? Would you recommend this job to your friends/family/children/pets?

I work at Amazon fc as well. The managers are all about the numbers. There are cases where they don't want us to use the automated ergo lifts cause it's "slow". So when we get pallets of 100 cases of dog food, cat food, paper, etc. We are told to use the pump carts cause it's "quicker". They don't consider that doing the lifting over and over again for 10 hours kills our backs. Everything we learned in training and safety procedures is thrown out the window so we can meet the daily projections.

TL,DR: Depending on what your job is, you can be treated like shit.

If your managers are going against your training and safety manual specifications, you need to document and bring to HR. Consider seeking legal advice as well.

I believe the training aspect of the job is nonsense. They read you from a board, explain to you what not to do, all around takes about 20 minutes and they take you to your stations.

There is about 3 other Amazon warehouses down the street from the one I'm at, but so far they've been great to me, during my shift everyone jokes around and are always helpful when you have any questions. I would like to see longer breaks we have two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch, which takes 5 minutes to go into the lunch/break room. I would recommend it to a friend IF they're looking to work temporary. I don't think you can really make a carrier out of yourself working there.

Are you allowed to do this AMA?

I don't see why not...

How much automation is there? What do you have to do manually, and what do the machines take care of?

Well for me since I'm a packer, we go get a cart bring it to our work station, scan the item, shows us which size box to put it in and we put the item in there wth some packaging paper and put it on the line, when it goes down the line, we have a taping machine which tapes the box, and we stick a shipping label on it and goes down to the trucks where people are loading packages.

Did you decide to work there for peak because of the "bonuses?"

Just due to peak season, had nothing better to do.

What is the weirdest order/item you have processed?

So far haven't seen any weird orders, but i shipped out over 100 Squatty Pottys last week.

Hey, I was thinking about applying at the sane location! Is it true I can get 4 10 hour days or 3 12 hour days? I'd rather work less days but more hours per day. Also others have told me you get paid more for working over night.. is that true?

I work at night 6:30PM - 5AM Sunday - Wednesday. Pay is the same $11.75 for all the temp workers. It's not true for people who work at night get paid more.

Are you dreading the next 6 weeks in preparation for the Holidays?

So far they're letting us get off work early since they're still hiring people daily and there is not so much work. It's not that bad since we do 2 carts and we're just hanging around looking for work to do.

My wife works at the one here in Va. Did you get a Thanksgiving dinner? she said it was very nice meal and there is another tomorrow.

We didn't get one, i believe i heard its for not temp workers like me.

So... Can you buy stuff online and just grab it from the warehouse if you want?

No, I was thinking about that, but they should do that. I know for a fact Newegg does it.

What requirements are there to work for amazon with your position? degree ? experience?

No experience needed. Just you need a high school diploma, and pass a drug test.

Urine test?

No, it's a saliva drug test.

What's the hiring process like? I'm currently working in a wholesale warehouse but I have limited supplies to do my job efficiently (good cardboard boxes, shelves for inventory, TAPE)

For me i went to the hiring agency, they had computers setup so we went and applied, then we sat down went into the interview, they asked us three questions, and said if you pass your drug test you got the job. So we did that and went into orientation and got a call next day telling us our schedule. I was done within 4 hours.

is it as exhausting and as badly paid as one sees in youtube videos, reports etc.?

It can be exhausting since we cant have any music playing or anything. But when your just joking around and talking it can go fast. After the first week you get used to it.

At my job we have been sending a TON of stuff to Amazon for their fulfillment centers. It has overtaken the regular business, actually. Do you end up stocking at all or mostly packaging and sending stuff out? And how often does stuff get damaged?

If any item is damaged we take it to the problem solvers booth where they will get it replaced. We are not allowed to ship any damaged boxes or anything.

What's the oddest item that you've had to pack? (Something that you didn't even know existed, or shocked someone might order for a legitimate purpose)

Nothing odd so far.

What items do you see the most? Thanks for the Ama :)

PS4s, Squatty Pottys, Drones, Pillows. Cat litter.

A buddy of mine works as an area manager at an Amazon FC. What advice would you have for managers at that level?

Honestly most of them just are on computers 95% of the time, I would say going around twice during the shift, talking to the workers and see if they need anything or got concerns.

I'm gonna go out and say that this guy has given sufficient proof that he indeed works at a Amazon FC by some of the terms he has used.

Ont6 picker reporting here. I'm someone who looks for an item then sends it to pack department (where OP is at). Sometimes we even send stuff directly from our FC to his.

I was going to work at ONT5 but they made me switch over the ONT9.
I heard my FC is much more better then the rest.

hows the pay?

I got hired through a temp agency, pay is currently $11.75, but if you get converted and hired i believe it's about $13.00.

How are the warehouses organized? I'm always disappointed when I order 5 items and have to deal with 4 separate packages.

It's because some fulfillment center might not have the items you ordered there and that can be the reason for it. It's all automated by a system.

I'm not sure how long you have worked there, but I've read a bit about how Amazon has introduced a lot of automation into their warehouses. Can you speak to how this has changed the nature of your line of work?

Not sure what they're talking about. But not alot is automated.

In order to streamline my life and make sure I'm never out of some things, I used Subscribe and Save for a while. I cancelled it for two reasons. First, I have Amazon Prime Now since I moved. Second, I had three issues with packing heavy objects (like kitty litter, large bags of cat food, etc.) in the same boxes with lighter objects (like steel cut oats, cat treats, or cereal). It caused the lighter objects to be smashed to hell and leaving a trail of crap all over my living room as it leaked out of the box.

When packing items, do they give you any instructions on how to pack multiple items in a single box? Or does the system just say throw it all in?

Also, I'm not sure if you work at a Prime Now location, but I'm curious what those fulfillment centers look like as there is a wide variety of crap you can get. In one shipment I got a vacuum cleaner, a half gallon of milk, a box of kitty litter, some air freshener, coffee, frozen pizza, a microphone stand, and a bottle of Aleve. Does the place look like a Walmart or Costco or something? Or do the runners purchase from retail stores for the perishable items?

I can compare it to Costco, pallets racked up to the roof, but we don't have any food in our facility. There is really no instructions, we just get the box throw everything in there and put a load of paper so it won't "reveal" the items because we don't want the carriers knowing what's inside.

Were are my stove knobs I ordered like a month ago?

Probably got stolen.

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When I first started 3 weeks ago I had many questions and so I thought it will be interesting for people.