Amazon Employees Revealed The Truth About Working In The Warehouse

If you plan on writing out a gift note with an Amazon order, keep this in mind. An employee named Alex told Mental Floss, “We have a gift note printer for any item that includes one that we have to grab and then toss in the box.

Nope, that’s not a typo! In a bid to ease the physical strain on certain Amazon staff, the company has invested in robots called Kivas (now known as Amazon Robotics). According to Mental Floss, they’re responsible for doing much of the heavy lifting now as they can move a huge number of products at a time.

If you like sitting down, then an Amazon warehouse is the last place you’d want a job. Employee Kyle told Mental Floss, “You’re not allowed to sit on things at a station.

During Charlee Mided’s chat with Mental Floss, her assessment of the cafeteria at her warehouse pulled no punches. She recalled, “It was a war zone trying to get enough time to heat your food and then get out without being run over.

At most jobs, lateness or unexplained absences can become a problem if it happens too often. It’s no different at Amazon, but the company uses a “points system” to track tardiness.

Due to the enormous amount of time workers spend on their feet, bathroom breaks can provide a welcome rest. Mind you, the staff need to be careful on that front.

Do you thrive or buckle under pressure? If you’re not too sure, then Amazon warehouses could put you to the test with their countdown timers. Worker Kyle told Mental Floss, “It’s called takt time.

It’s fair to say that Charlee had mixed feelings about Amazon’s group exercises. As she recalled on Mental Floss, “Every night, twice a night, when we showed up and when we came back from lunch we had to do calisthenics.

Regarding the breaks at Amazon warehouses, Kyle told Mental Floss, “You log out and are supposed to come back within 30 minutes, so there’s no more than 30 minutes between the last time you scanned an item and the next item. But the problem is it takes five to seven minutes to walk to your car or to the break room, so it’s not really a full 30-minute break.”

Did you know that Amazon has its own mascot? He’s an orange figure called Peccy, with the company’s swish logo forming his smile. Kyle revealed that workers are awarded Peccy badges for their performances at the warehouses.

In common with many other jobs, there are perks on offer for workers at Amazon warehouses. For instance, Kyle told Mental Floss that they’d typically be handed discounts of up to $100 on orders every 12 months.

Depending on the type of contract you have at your job, hours aren’t always guaranteed. And as it turns out, that’s very much the case at Amazon.

How about this for an incentive? BuddyWorld’s YouTube video revealed that Amazon workers could earn “prizes” for doing extra shifts. They get entered into a draw and could potentially win stuff such as shirts, gift cards, Amazon Echos, gaming consoles, and televisions.

Unlike certain other jobs, there’s no dress code at Amazon. According to BuddyWorld, you’re free to slip on whatever you desire — whether it’s a fancy outfit or a pair of PJs.

Given the sheer variety of products available on Amazon, workers at the warehouses have seen their fair share of bizarre orders. For example, Charlee told Mental Floss that she had come across “more stand-up life-size Justin Biebers” than she could count.

We all like to have a bit of fun at work, right? So long as it doesn’t interfere with our duties, of course! It’s much the same at Amazon warehouses too, with Charlee recalling a time when a bubble-wrap machine went a little overboard. She told Mental Floss, “You’d see people just sitting around popping bubble wrap.

A Reddit user shed some light on an interesting communication process at the Amazon warehouse. They wrote, “We have giant whiteboards right at the entrance of the building where anyone can complain about anything.

If you’re about to start working at an Amazon warehouse, staff member Donald has some important advice to share. He informed Mental Floss that employees have to stay away from the company’s robots unless they’ve been assigned to them.

Want an idea of how thorough Amazon’s safeguards are at the warehouses? Well, Charlee spilled the beans on the Mental Floss website. She said, “If you’re way over on one side of the warehouse and lunch is called, you have 30 minutes to clock out, eat, and come back.

While talking to Mental Floss, a veteran Amazon worker revealed how much ground they covered every day at their warehouse: 13 miles! They said, “That’s over a ten-hour period, so it’s like 1.3 miles per hour, which isn’t bad. But doing it for ten hours straight, by the third or fourth day your legs are almost like jelly.” We feel their pain.

When shifts start to become a little monotonous, a bit of music could be just what the doctor ordered. At Amazon, though, you’ll have to look for something else to help pass the time.

It’s always daunting when you start a new job, but Amazon looks to make your life a little easier at the warehouses. You see, a worker took to the comments section of a BuzzFeed article to reveal that recent hires are given an orange vest.

Don’t you just hate it when Amazon orders arrive at your house in unnecessarily bulky packaging? Who’s at fault for that? Well, as it turns out, it isn’t the workers on the warehouse floor. Alex informed Mental Floss that computers make the decision after employees scan each order.

In the vast majority of cases, Amazon orders arrive at our doorstep in good time. But there might be the odd occasion when a product doesn’t turn up.

The YouTube channel BuddyWorld provided some interesting insights in a video. Apparently, new employees are handed a “seasonal” contract at the warehouse to begin with.

Be honest with us here — does anyone enjoy taking on additional work shifts? Especially those that are thrust upon you with very little choice. Well, it’s not so bad at Amazon.

Yep, you’re reading that correctly. As Charlee told Mental Floss, “It’s very much like a school nurse’s office.

It goes without saying that health and safety should be a top priority in the workplace. That’s certainly the case at Amazon warehouses anyway.

If you were given the option to change something at work, what would it be? For the women interviewed on BuddyWorld’s report, Amazon’s H.R. is near the top of their list.

Should an Amazon employee feel the need to “fake” an injury at their warehouse, they’ll usually get assigned to another position for their shift. It’s called broom duty.

Yes, lockers are available to staff in the Amazon warehouse, but the people in charge don’t actually assign them to the workers. Instead, if an employee finds a free compartment with nothing in it, they can claim that space for themselves.

Why does “problem solver” sound so ominous? Probably all those movies we’ve been watching! Anyway, a position like that exists at Amazon warehouses. The job requires them to assess and put right any issues on the floor, before sharing advice or tips to whoever made the flub.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone has the same role at Amazon warehouses. There is a range of jobs available on the floor, including picking and loading.

Want an idea of what the storage is like at Amazon warehouses? Brace yourselves. A Reddit user revealed, “There are literally thousands of shelves full of little cubby holes.

Depending on where you work, it’s not always easy to sort out shift changes. At Amazon, though, it’s a fairly simple process.

Yep, quotas are indeed a thing for Amazon warehouse workers, with one ex-picker sharing their experience on Reddit. They wrote, “My only job was to grab two large, yellow plastic bins, put them on my double-decker shopping cart, and fill them with the items that my scanner told me to find.

Okay, we want a virtual show of hands here. Who likes to check their phone throughout a work shift? Most of you? Well, you’d have no such luck at Amazon.

Zebras play an important role at Amazon warehouses. No, we’re not talking about the animal! Instead, it’s a digital device that can monitor the workload of the staff.

The next time you look to order a big bag of kitty litter from Amazon, keep this in mind. According to Kyle, the workers on the warehouse floor can’t stand moving that stuff around.

Trust us, you’re reading that right. Amazon worker Alex informed Mental Floss, “We have no-cost medical vending machines.