IAmA a warehouse employee for Amazon. The company has been in the spotlight recently because of some politicians like Bernie Sanders talking about the poor working conditions. AMA!

I have been working for Amazon for about 9 non-consecutive months. There has been a ton of media attention about the working conditions we face. I think some is true but some is also not. Obviously not every site is the same, but I am here to answer some questions anyone may have about it from an employee's prospective!

It's a boring topic but I think a few people may care. :)

Proof was sent to moderators and approved.

Update: I worked overnight last night and made this post at 6 in the morning. I answered 5 questions then the post died down so I went to sleep. I will be going through each question throughout the 24 hours to answer EVERY question I see.

Trust me guys and gals, I am not shill. I somewhat expect to get fired for making this post. But only time will tell there.

Comments: 1793 • Responses: 8  • Date: 

rhino429192 karma

Is it really as stressful as people claim it is? Like is it go go go go all the time where you can’t even take a second to catch your breath? Or have a time limit per order that has to be filled?

nitroboy52468 karma

It varies...

it's all about the volume. On an average day we do about 50,000-60,000 packages. However some days that spikes for one reason or another and on those day it is "go go go." Of course you can slow down for second and take a water or bathroom break, BUT that appears on your scanner. Everything you sort, scan, or move appears on your scanner and if you fall into the bottom 10% you will likely be fired.

So yes, it can be non-stop moving on busy days but I would only say that happens once per week. Unless it's a holiday season, of course.

I also want to add that they have everyones scan rates in the open for everyone to see. So it is likely some people feel like they are always under pressure so their name doesn't appear on the bottom of the list.

wu-tangkilla180 karma

Is it possible that you could pack the wrong item for a customer? And what would happen if you did?

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A friend of mine received something the other day that he hadn't ordered, but it was in his name etc and it just seemed strange.

nitroboy52183 karma

It is possible, however not by me. There are SO many different tasks in the building that odds of me doing that is fairly slim.

Amazon is a lot like EBay in a way but most people don't know that. A lot of people sell their own items on Amazon so they are responsible for packaging the product. If the item was actually sold by Amazon then it is very possible still for that to happen. There are actually individual buildings just for packaging products. Most big cities have 2 or 3 Amazon buildings; one usually responsible for packing.

But if an employee notices the item doesn't match what you ordered, it will get sent to Problem Solve. Problem Solve is an area where one or 2 workers are in char of unpacking and repacking damaged products or fixing the issue by packing the right item.

I kinda went on a rant so TL;DR Yes it is very possible as the work load is extremely fast paced, Mistakes are made VERY often.

qx8749 karma

the wage rise looks really good. what's your take on it? and, will it be a global increase or only for US workers?

nitroboy5262 karma

As far as I know it's US only, BUT I don't know much more than you. It was barely mentioned before the start of the shift. The upper management hasn't said anything to us about it.

Amazonsfinest4212 karma

Non bought by Amazon account here. 3 year Warehouse associate. Thinking of doing an IAmA my self. What's your thoughts on losing the rsr and vcp options??

Edit. I left Amazon two weeks ago due to the horrid conditions.

nitroboy528 karma

I am fine with losing the benefits but it is because I was barely getting any anyway. The long term employees are the ones getting bit here.

And I'd say do it! The AMA. Only about half the people here believe me due to my time it took to reply so you might as well do it because we will likely be able to back each other up and not seem like shills.