I took a job at an Amazon warehouse for 2 weeks because I was curious. AMA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you did this during vacation? How did you line up vacation to the hiring process?

I’m self employed with a small business. The Amazon hiring process is a joke. There is no interview or wait to start with the exception of a drug test that come back within 24 hours. From completed application to first day on the job was 3 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many steps did you log per shift? Weight loss ++

Would you ever be eligible for a free Prime membership?

Thanks for this AMA.

I lost 6 lbs but didn’t track my steps. They do not offer prime as a benefit. Amazon is cheap with their benefits outside of health insurance. You get 10% off Amazon products up to $100 a year. That’s all. The health insurance is nice and they do provide life insurance at no cost which would be 2x your annual pay but if you don’t nominate a beneficiary they will take it.

I work full time in an Amazon warehouse as a picker. I was offered and accepted Prime as part of my employment package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are they constantly sermonizing against unions?

No mention of unions but I imagine if one started to bring it up they would fire you on the spot as you are constantly reminded that you are an at will employee. I think unions mostly fail at Amazon because the workers don’t last long in the job to begin with. 90% of people leave the job before 3 months are up and it take time for unions to form and organize. They have an “amazonniversary” board congratulating employees on years of employment at the warehouse and maybe a dozen people were there more than 5 years at the one I was at. It’s just not long term employment for anyone so they can’t really organize or even care much about unions.

no most people don't stay because they are drug addicts or want a free ride.

The Aberdeen MD site is a great example of this. The employees light up as soon as they walk out that door. Or they take a job stay for less than a week then don't show up.

And you know their drug habits...how??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many steps did you log per shift? Weight loss ++

Would you ever be eligible for a free Prime membership?

Thanks for this AMA.

I lost 6 lbs but didn’t track my steps. They do not offer prime as a benefit. Amazon is cheap with their benefits outside of health insurance. You get 10% off Amazon products up to $100 a year. That’s all. The health insurance is nice and they do provide life insurance at no cost which would be 2x your annual pay but if you don’t nominate a beneficiary they will take it.

I work full time in an Amazon warehouse as a picker. I was offered and accepted Prime as part of my employment package.

Then it was not offered to us. Just the 10% off up to $100 off their own products. I was told they used to give stock to all of their employees including warehouse workers but they no longer offer it.

[Anonymous]

What percentage of workers are women?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What percentage of workers are women?

I’d say almost half if not half. Again the work place was very diverse. They also promote programs like BEN (Black Employee Network) and glamazon (LGBTQ+ affinity group). It was the most diverse work place I’d ever seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a snarky question, but was it weird knowing you were working there out of curiousity and others out of necessity?

Yes and no. I didn’t feel like I took away a position from someone because amazon had something like 60 positions open when I applied. All you do is fill out your personal info, select a shift and get a cheek swab drug test. 3 days later I was working. You don’t need to interview or have any prior experience. They also have huge turnover and their response is to just bring in more new people. For example 15 new people entered the same day I did and by week 2 10 of them quit. One quit in the middle of training and cried because he said he couldn’t take hard physical labor anymore and wanted to be valued for more than his body. That was heartbreaking to watch. Even the trainer admitted Amazon does not care and that when one person walks out they’ll just line up a new person. To quit all you need to do is hit a resign button on their employee app. You don’t have to give an explanation or talk to HR. Amazon is very much a cold machine.

A "resign" button on the badge. Yes, this would be awesome. I'd love one on my current badge!

[Anonymous]

Was anyone caught stealing while you were there? Is there a lot of blatant theft?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for doing the AMA. Will stop using amaxon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was anyone caught stealing while you were there? Is there a lot of blatant theft?

No and no. It may be different at other facilities but most of the items there were medium sized and bulky. You can’t exactly walk out with a microwave or a 50lb bag of dog food in your pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for doing the AMA. Will stop using amaxon.

Why? I am not the OP but the conditions are what is expected of any warehouse job. They would be the same for someone working in fast food, minus the walking around. Your fedex driver lifts heavy things and has quotas.
I am not sure how you believe things end up at your front door if it isn't for low wage people doing very hard work.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I am going to stop complaining about my data entry job. Thank you for this humbling post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may find this book, not the movie, interesting. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. It seasonal workers.

Not OP, but thanks for the rec; that sounds very interesting!

[Anonymous]

I am feeling guilty about having kitty litter on subscription.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for doing the AMA. Will stop using amaxon.

NP. Then you should stop using all delivery services: Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club. The conditions that OP talks about are very similar to most warehouse jobs everywhere. The specifics vary, but the conditions are very much the same. Most warehouse jobs are grueling, with very little socializing encouraged. Most have very strict adherence to rules and hours. There is relatively little that OP covered that is unusual.