Being Homeless is Better than Working for Amazon

[ThePhantasm]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/28/being-homeless-is-better-than-working-for-amazon

I am homeless. My worst days now are better than my best days working at Amazon.

I have never felt more alone than when I was working there. I worked in isolation and lived under constant surveillance. Amazon could mandate overtime and I would have to comply with any schedule change they deemed necessary, and if there was not any work, they would send us home early without pay. I started to fall behind on my bills.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/t...workplace.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Some workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and other personal crises said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out rather than given time to recover.

Bo Olson lasted less than two years in a book marketing role and said that his enduring image was watching people weep in the office, a sight other workers described as well. “You walk out of a conference room and you’ll see a grown man covering his face,” he said. “Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”

Noelle Barnes, who worked in marketing for Amazon for nine years, repeated a saying around campus: “Amazon is where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves.”

Motherhood can also be a liability. Michelle Williamson, a 41-year-old parent of three who helped build Amazon’s restaurant supply business, said her boss, Shahrul Ladue, had told her that raising children would most likely prevent her from success at a higher level because of the long hours required. Mr. Ladue, who confirmed her account, said that Ms. Williamson had been directly competing with younger colleagues with fewer commitments, so he suggested she find a less demanding job at Amazon. (Both he and Ms. Williamson left the company.)

He added that he usually worked 85 or more hours a week and rarely took a vacation.

Molly Jay, an early member of the Kindle team, said she received high ratings for years. But when she began traveling to care for her father, who was suffering from cancer, and cut back working on nights and weekends, her status changed. She was blocked from transferring to a less pressure-filled job, she said, and her boss told her she was “a problem.” As her father was dying, she took unpaid leave to care for him and never returned to Amazon.

“When you’re not able to give your absolute all, 80 hours a week, they see it as a major weakness,” she said.

 

[Erzengel]

Of course, this won't make most people stop shopping at Amazon.

 

[Lencho01]

http://gizmodo.com/working-for-amazon-sounds-utterly-soul-crushing-1724325816

Update 7/16/2015: Gizmodo received the following email from an Amazon representative today:

Hi Maddie, I saw that you covered the recent NYT story about Amazon. While we generally do not comment on individual news stories, we quickly saw current

Amazon employees react. Here’s an example: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amazonia...

Could you please include that employee’s rebuttal in your coverage, either in full or in excerpts with a link to the full piece?

Thanks,

Ty
​

 

[Primal Slayer]

I work at an Amazon......while it isn't a traditional Amazon since we were Zappos first before being bought out, things like Overtime being called whenever they feel like can be annoying. But at least at our warehouse, they can't send you home early unless you want to go home early. They have to find work for you.

But they do come up with some ridiculous work rules that only seem to work against you instead of helping you.

 

[Greens]

Of course, this won't make most people stop shopping at Amazon.

Why should they? Some companies literally use slave labor to make their products and I don't see massive protests. I'm gonna shop where the item I want is the cheapest and/or the most convenient to get.

 

[Destructus86]

Working at the Amazon office is a nightmare. Many working way over 40+ hours. Management is totally clueless to the lower level workers. And if you are there on a work-visa they know they can treat you however you want because there is no way you'll quit and run the risk of being sent back home.

I like the options Amazon's site gives but working there...just no. It's a glorified sweatshop.

 

[Slushy]

I wouldn't mind working 80 hours as long as the pay was worth it! #CorporateAmerica

 

[KevanG]

I've worked 60 hour weeks in a bakery that was pretty much a sweatshop. No AC in a room that might hit 40C/104F where we were on our feet for easily 10-14 hours a day on hard concrete floors. We had people pass out as soon as they took a break and the Plant Manager would just yell at us to hurry the **** up.

I'd rather have worked at Amazon. At least they'd probably not try to screw you out of raises or try to work by yourself, doing the job of five people because everyone else ran off and went home after doing a 12 hour shift.

 

[Destructus86]

I've worked 60 hour weeks in a bakery that was pretty much a sweatshop. No AC in a room that might hit 40C/104F where we were on our feet for easily 10-14 hours a day on hard concrete floors. We had people pass out as soon as they took a break and the Plant Manager would just yell at us to hurry the **** up.

I'd rather have worked at Amazon. At least they'd probably not try to screw you out of raises or try to work by yourself, doing the job of five people because everyone else ran off and went home after doing a 12 hour shift.

They will shove 4 peoples work on you though and then chew you out if you don't finish it within their time frame.

 

[KevanG]

That was my old job but while dealing with near heat stroke, exhaustion and the possibility of all my staff/co-workers running off leaving me alone to finish another four hours work. I got yelled at daily for losing my **** at the people who didn't want to work because it was 'hard' or they were 'tired' after two hours. They refused to listen to me despite being in charge of the section because I didn't have the 'supervisor' title since my boss was too much of a cheapskate for the massive twenty five cent an hour raise and told me to let him deal with them, which he didn't.

I doubt working for them is much worse than that.

 

[Parker Wayne]

Of course, this won't make most people stop shopping at Amazon.

I'm sure not. I just know not to apply there for jobs. If people want to be dumb enough to be used as slave labor that's their perogative.

The sad thing I were not shop or buy anything from a company because of awful crap they do, I wouldn't be able to shop at 80, 90% of companies that exist.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I know where I won't send my papers to apply for a job.

 

[Farren]

Compensation is considered competitive — successful midlevel managers can collect the equivalent of an extra salary from grants of a stock that has increased more than tenfold since 2008. But workers are expected to embrace “frugality” (No. 9), from the bare-bones desks to the cellphones and travel expenses that they often pay themselves. (No daily free food buffets or regular snack supplies, either.)

​

Sounds like the cult of Cydcor to me. The people that make it to the top reap some rewards but most everyone else is just working hard for nothing.

The Aries-in-the-House-of-Sun-Moon-Venus-and-Mercury scary side of me kind of wants to try and get a job there to perform a social experiment/study, where I just put in my solid hard working 40 hours a week and not give a poop if I get yelled at or shamed, just to see what reactions I would get. Until they fire me anyway, which I'm sure would be fast.

Of course, this won't make most people stop shopping at Amazon.

Stop? Nah I'll still shop there. But it does make me inclined to check out alternatives first. Especially since I also don't like how they were/are making their employees wait as long as 25 minutes in security screenings without pay.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I've worked 60 hour weeks in a bakery that was pretty much a sweatshop. No AC in a room that might hit 40C/104F where we were on our feet for easily 10-14 hours a day on hard concrete floors. We had people pass out as soon as they took a break and the Plant Manager would just yell at us to hurry the **** up.

I'd rather have worked at Amazon. At least they'd probably not try to screw you out of raises or try to work by yourself, doing the job of five people because everyone else ran off and went home after doing a 12 hour shift.

Not like the pay is that great. Here you started out at like 11.25 and top out at 12.75. It's ridiculous that temps come in and make $1 less then someone who has been working there for 2-3 years and sometimes the temps can make more.

We went from having free food, free snacks, free drinks/bottled water, karaoke machine for employees, to none of that. They sucked out any fun there was.

 

[Marvolo]

Of course, this won't make most people stop shopping at Amazon.

Im gonna keep shopping at Amazon. Free two day shipping and anything I want at competitive pricing. Along with fantastic customer service. And I save my gasoline. Why would I pass that up? As long as Amazon is in business and keep offering these things Ill keep shopping there.

 

[SuperFerret]

I call ******** on the title's claims.

 

[Arc-Light]

I've worked 60 hour weeks in a bakery that was pretty much a sweatshop. No AC in a room that might hit 40C/104F where we were on our feet for easily 10-14 hours a day on hard concrete floors. We had people pass out as soon as they took a break and the Plant Manager would just yell at us to hurry the **** up.

I'd rather have worked at Amazon. "At least they'd probably not try to screw you out of raises or try to work by yourself, doing the job of five people because everyone else ran off and went home after doing a 12 hour shift."

LOL i do work for amazon and the above is actually what they do....most days they have me working a job 3 ppl need to do and of course i only get paid for one........i have had 6 area mangers bolt in the last 3 years the very moment they can.......more later i am tired...

 

[Marvolo]

LOL i do work for amazon and the above is actually what they do....most days they have me working a job 3 ppl need to do and of course i only get paid for one........i have had 6 area mangers bolt in the last 3 years the very moment they can.......more later i am tired...

This isnt exclusive to amazon. Its quite common in the workplace.

 

[BattleCat]

LOL i do work for amazon and the above is actually what they do....most days they have me working a job 3 ppl need to do and of course i only get paid for one........i have had 6 area mangers bolt in the last 3 years the very moment they can.......more later i am tired...

You get screwed out of raises? At my site we get raises every 6 months.

 

[Erzengel]

Which reminds me, I reserved Fallout 4 Pip Boy Edition on Amazon. And although I could make a statement by canceling, I'm looking to make at least a 100% profit on Ebay.

 

[cregsim]

What is so bad about Amazon?

 

[theastsunnn]

I worked there before. I think most jobs people are paid teen dollars than what they deserve. I was making about 16 when I worked there and it should’ve been much more. Why don’t workers all around just strike for comfortable wages. I work in a field that can’t afford to not be done, robots can’t do it yet, so why not just strike and demand more money? Is it because the elites will just wipe the average man away and get robots to do the job? But then if the average man can’t work who will put money into the rich pockets?