Amazon UK Working Conditions Could Cause Mental Illness
Amazon is currently investigating whether certain warehouse jobs meet legal requirements.
Recently the BBC conducted an investigation into a UK-based Amazon warehouse and discovered what one stress expert says is working conditions that could cause "mental and physical illness." The BBC provided this expert with actual footage of an undercover worker who was expected to retrieve orders every 33 seconds in Amazon's Swansea 800,000 square foot warehouse.
According to the BBC, the online retail giant has hired on 15,000 extra staff to handle the holiday load. One of these new hires was undercover reporter Adam Littler, 23, who took a camera inside to record what happens on his shifts. He was employed as a "picker," an individual who collects orders stored in the warehouse.
While that doesn't sound too difficult, he was equipped with a handheld scanner that told him what to retrieve, and how many seconds he was allowed to have between retrievals. If he made a mistake – meaning if he arrived at the next product after the timer finished counting down – then it beeped.
"We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves," he told the BBC. "We don't think for ourselves, maybe they don't trust us to think for ourselves as human beings, I don't know."
Littler told the BBC that the scanner tracked his picking rate, and sent that performance to shift managers. If the average gets too low, pickers are warned that they could face disciplinary action. However, when he worked night shifts, his pay rose from £6.50 per hour during the day to £8.25 per hour during the night.
"I managed to walk or hobble nearly 11 miles, just short of 11 miles last night. I'm absolutely shattered. My feet are the thing that are bothering me the most to be honest," he said after working a ten-and-a-half hour night shift.
Prof Michael Marmot, one of Britain's leading experts on stress at work, told the BBC that Amazon's warehouse has working conditions that are "all the bad stuff at once," that there are increased risk of mental illness and physical illness. Other unnamed experts said that the shifts Littler described could breach the working time regulations.
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But Amazon claims that there haven't been any concerns in official safety inspections, and that an independent expert appointed by the company said the "picker" job is no different than "similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness." The company also said that new recruits are warned of the physical requirements of some positions, and that those on the night shift only work four-day weeks and receive an hour's break per shift.
Still, Amazon said that its night shift is lawful, but will seek out expert advice to make sure that all shifts comply with the relevant legal requirements. Hey, at least they're not paid in Amazon Coins for all that hard work...
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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ZolaIII Cheap automatons for mechanical work that don't need programing & a part of the "New brave world".Reply
& now reconsider the actual product name "Pro wite"! -
Josh Brumpton If any of you want to watch it it's the "panorma- the truth behind the click" 30minutes long, well worth watching. I think If there gonna make them do such a physically intensive job at least pay well.Reply -
eza for some reason, I was under the impression that all the Amazon picking was done by robots in silent massive warehouses.Reply
didn't realise that real people do it -
makaveli316 It's not only Amazon. They are a lot of companies, even not that big ones. We are modern slaves and there's nothing we can do.Reply
I would understand if the job is well paid, but that's just not the case.
No way in hell i'm doing this job, even if the money is good.
I'd rather earn less money, work my 8 hours and not a minute more and chill at work, rather than destroy my self for a couple more bucks. I did that when i was younger, but not anymore, it's not worth it. -
mouse24 Just watched it, honestly it seemed like it was extremely biased and the guy was a huge whiner.Reply
Hes working at a job hes not cut out for, it requires lots of walking and thats pretty much it. Its about as simplistic a job as you can hope for, its not skilled in any way, what did he expect?
Amazon seems a bit strict on there workers but thats just because its such a low tier job that they have an abundance of people who will tolerate being treated like such.
There was nothing wrong with the work environment, no issues with health or safety, its just he didn't like how he was being treated and how "hard" he had to work. -
Jacob Kral Get over it wimps.. this is a completely normal job in America.. yeah it's a bit exhausting, but he also didn't have to walk that distance, they provide mini fork lifts you could drive around (and need to reach stuff on high shelves)..Reply
A picker is pretty much a standard position in any warehousing business.
Eventually they will get smart warehouses that robotically fetch all these things, but then I bet you'll be whining about how the machines should be banned because they are stealing your job.. -
goodguy713 amazon is not for the weak hearted or the lazy. For those of you who say the job is meaning less ask all those people who get their orders on time. Its not about who dose what or how they do it but as long as it gets done right. Amazon has always been about the customer and the employees tend to take the back burner. but they have made changes in the last few years that have made working for them a little easier.Reply
and most people dont realize that as the world moves to more and more online shopping there will be more and more people needed. retail brick and mortar places typically do not pay any where near what amazon dose.
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Nilo BP And people complain that the evil corporations are shedding jobs in the West and moving to the East. Frankly, if I had to deal with whining employees augmented by TV sensationalism like this, I would set up shop somewhere else too.Reply
And the worst part is that schools and the media continue to mass-produce entitled brats who think that hard work is beneath them. -
People can't tolerate such simple jobs, then don't be surprised more and more factories shut down.Reply
Amazon just provided 15 000 jobs. Any thanks? -
egilbe walking 11 miles and he's whining? WTF? Lazy UK bastards need to learn what hard work is.Reply