The horrors of Amazon: employees told about the constant surveillance and asthma attacks at work

A former employee of Amazon said that in the warehouses of the enterprise "terrible odors" emanating from garbage cans. According to him, the workers of the warehouse were so worried that they would not spend much time in the toilet while they were working, they jerked their needs right into the trash can. This is stated in the material Business Insider.

Фото: Depositphotos

“I’ve never seen anyone do this, but I’ve seen the consequences. On three occasions I smelled a terrible odor coming from trash cans scattered throughout the multi-level warehouse. Then I heard that the employees were caught on surveillance cameras and were fired,” the person said.

His story is confirmed by journalist James Blavert, who in the UK in 2016, took a job in Amazonto write a book about low paid jobs.

Blavert told me that he once found a bottle of urine on the shelf, and explained that people are doing it because they fear that they will be fired because of a long absence in the toilet.

After the story of Blavert, more than 30 people contacted Business Insider and talked about what it was like to work in a warehouse in Amazon.

The company is famous for delivering goods quickly. But this efficiency is expensive.

In the warehouse work "collectors", they walk through the warehouse and scan items that need to be delivered. They say that "collectors" must scan a certain amount of goods per hour, and if they do not close the goal, the manager will punish them. Employees say that communication with colleagues or a too long search for goods is called “free time”, and if it is too much, then the employee is fined. If a waste of time occurs too often, then the employee is dismissed.

At the warehouse, security cameras are installed that make the company's employees feel like “robots”, which they constantly monitor.

«Amazon provides a safe and positive workplace for thousands of people in the UK. We have competitive salaries from day one. We strive to treat each of our employees with dignity and respect. I do not believe that these statements accurately describe work at our facilities,” a company spokeswoman said in a letter to the publication.

One of the warehouse staff Amazon in Germany, she said that this is not very similar to the usual understanding of work. Before the start of the working day, employees must put their wallets, phones and other things in small lockers. And until they put a lot of security cameras, thefts in the warehouse were frequent.

After things are put in the locker, employees must pass through a metal detector. If someone was found something that can not be carried, then the person was sent back to the locker and he again stood in line to the metal detector.

“I once got stuck at a metal detector - I forgot I had my wallet in my back pocket, and I had to explain why I carried my wallet when there were 80 other people standing behind me. A great start to the work day,” she recalls.

She was given the task to update stocks and put on the shelves from 15 to 20 new products.

“This is impossible even without a break and communication with colleagues. It was not allowed to stand and talk with colleagues. If caught doing this, you had to listen to a monologue about how important it was to do your job. If you were caught doing this often, you got a point on your scorecard. After five points, your manager will talk to you, which most often would be followed by dismissal,” she says.

According to her, the lunch break also took place in tension.

“Lunch was as stressful as everything else. You rush to the metal detector, stand in line, grab one dish - you didn’t have time for two - sit down for a few minutes and rush to the metal detector again. The break lasts 10 minutes at most, the remaining 20 you spend in line,” says the employee.

В Amazon stated that most employees do not have to stand in line. In the warehouses there are rest rooms where you can eat and rejuvenate.

“It’s important to us that people working in the company get a complete break. If people need to leave the building during a break, then we make sure that people do not spend more time than 30-60 seconds during the search. We have also improved our canteens so that people can buy food locally,” a company spokeswoman said.

According to her, such a security system is in any enterprise where they work with valuable goods.

The staff also reported that visiting the toilets takes from 10 to 15 minutes and this time is tracked. If it is too long, you are given a warning.

“An employee has two 15-minute breaks during a standard 10-hour shift. But in fact, these are two 10-minute breaks, since 5 minutes are spent walking to the break room or toilet,” said one of the former employees.

One employee said that he had an asthma attack at work on the night shift. Another employee said that he received a fine for taking one day sick leave. Former employees blame Amazon disrespect to the health of employees.

An employee who survived an asthma attack worked as a “picker”. After this incident, he was transferred to the packaging of goods - still physical labor, but there is less need to walk. Then he was generally removed.

Amazon often changes the scope of work of employees, if they can not cope with their goals.

The company does not disclose how many full-time employees work in its warehouses, but notes that 566 employs thousands of people all over the world.

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