![]() ![]() The repetitive, monotonous work at its ironically named “fulfilment centre” did me no favours mentally, either. But Amazon has recognised humans are the least efficient part of the operation, so in Tilbury the robots take over.Īt every turn it felt like the human staff were reduced to livestock, existing only to service the machines. One silver lining as I started was that working as a picker might be good exercise. My blood pressure and resting heart rate both rose from the stresses of the job. Physically I am no slouch – yet my body felt drained every day. Weeks before I went in, I had finished a summer running season which included two marathons and a handful of half marathons. Tilbury warehouse is a slick operation, up to speed on health and safety and workplace law.īut just because it is legal does not mean it is good for you. Associates are evaluated over a long period of time as we know a variety of things could impact the ability to meet expectations in any given day or hour.” 'Staff are just cattle there to serve robots'Īmazon run a tight ship, as you would expect from a company founded by the world’s richest man. “Targets are based on previous performance achieved by our workers. As with most companies, we expect a certain level of performance. “We offer great jobs and a positive environment with opportunities for growth. ![]() We are proud to have created thousands of permanent roles in our UK fulfilment centres in recent years. When it comes to treating its staff as people, Amazon still has much to deliver.Īmazon told us: “Amazon provides a safe and positive workplace with competitive pay and benefits from day one. His remark summed up what I had seen with my own eyes. One colleague told me: “At my induction someone was asking why the staff turnover was so high here. In my final fortnight there were at least two safety incidents that could have seen somebody seriously hurt. If I grumbled I was reminded my numbers would suffer if I stopped. Sometimes I met my targets, but I knew I couldn’t keep it up much longer.īy halfway through the day I felt drained. “If you get one with lots of small items you save time and keep your numbers up – everyone’s after those first.” A colleague said: “My girlfriend says even the old ladies on night shifts have been fighting over the boxes. And I’ve since been told this will rise to 200 items.Įmployees can be seen walking up and down conveyor belts rattling boxes before cherry picking ones full of smaller items to meet their quota. I was told to pack 120 single items an hour, or 85 multiple items. Once an item is picked it continues through the building to end up in packing – the other department where I worked. But with workers pitted against each other, one told me: “As long as you’re not bottom you’ve no need to worry… for the time being.” Once a day, a supervisor would approach me to remind me how I was performing. In the days leading up to Black Friday, missed performance targets saw scores of staff sacked. I take home £200 a week – how can I afford it?” The only room I can find is £600 a month. One who wants to move locally told me: “Landlords are putting up rents since the site opened. Some are so desperate for one of the £8.20-an-hour jobs that they spend four hours each day commuting. To reach the site, named LCY2 after nearby London City airport, workers pay £4 a day from wages for a bus laid on from London.Īmazon customer bemused after bubble wrap he ordered arrives protected by 100ft of PAPER If I went, the system would know I had not been active, so the pressure was on to hold it in. It is so vast that just walking to the toilet could take more than five minutes – almost a third of a mile from some of my workstations, and even longer when those on my floor were out of order, as they often were. Since October Amazon has been racing to fill 1,500 roles at the warehouse, the size of 11 football pitches. Less lucky ones were told off after being caught taking a breather. With my secret camera, I documented colleagues snatching a moment to rest their aching feet when supervisors could not see them. My friend spent two days off after she damaged her knee ligaments.” I pulled my hamstring but I just had to carry on. One of my colleagues told me: “Everybody suffers here. One colleague was taken to hospital by ambulance when they collapsed on the job, after struggling on despite feeling unwell.Īnother ambulance was called after a girl suffered a panic attack when she was told compulsory overtime would mean her working up to 55 hours a week over Christmas. Amazon are selling giant Toblerone bars in their Black Friday sale - and they're cheaper than Morrisons ![]()
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