Amazon - Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You

Friday, January 1, 2016

Our last two days working at Amazon were charged with anticipation. Annoyed workcampers hoped for news of an early release. The other warehouses were finished by Tuesday afternoon at the latest, but we were told to continue working as scheduled. A few members of our group asked for us to be let go earlier, but as Tuesday and then Wednesday dragged on, it appeared that we would work up until 5 pm on the last contracted day. No one earned the extra $1 for every hour worked bonus unless we completed our contract.

Tuesday during our 3 pm break we were treated to a fajita buffet and given another t-shirt. The managers thanked us, told us that we worked at 105% of the rest of the employees, and then had a drawing for two Amazon Kindle Fires. Greg won one of them, which was a nice surprise for us and became my Christmas present!

Some of us were planning on making the mad dash home to families for Christmas Eve and an earlier start on Wednesday would help. As the day progressed weather reports were forecasting severe thunderstorms and tornadoes as we would be leaving at 5 pm. Permission was asked to leave at noon, but, lunch passed, and then our 3 pm break and after each we returned to the floor. Finally at 5 pm, we all clocked out, cheered, sighed, hugged goodbye and some of us raced back to our campgrounds in the pouring rain and winds, to try and hook-up and out run the weather.We were stowed, unhooked from our utilities, and had our car hooked up behind us by 6:30 pm. Unfortunately, we were also drenched. The severe weather was just on the west fringe of Louisville and we quickly threw on dry clothes, jumped in our seats and drove into the rain, wind, dark, and rush hour traffic. No time to think about dinner. We crossed the Ohio River and started east on I-64. At a rest stop I grabbed some food from the fridge and we ate as we drove.

Weather alerts kept interrupting our radio broadcast. We were driving in high winds, but little rain, but just behind us there were alerts for severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. We felt like the bringers of destruction as the alerts arose behind us as we raced on. The storm was traveling at 60 mph and so were we! We saw frequent lightening off to the north as the storms built in that direction, but besides Greg's two handed clutching of the steering wheel to fight the winds, we did fine.
By 2 am we were in Bridgewater, WV. As we turned north we eventually intersected the storm front, but by now it had lost it's power. We pulled into a Walmart and slept until 7 am. We had a few showers during our sleep, but felt fortunate that we out ran the worst of the system, and continued on that morning through the damp and surprisingly arrived at our family's home in Maryland by 12:30. Early enough for showers to wash off the last of our Amazon work “stink” before the guests arrived!
Other workcampers got the worst of the weather and accident-caused traffic back-ups. We were able to thread our way just ahead and between fronts to make it back to Maryland. Our 6:30 pm start was a big factor.

The last few days have given us time to enjoy family and friends and the blessings of the season. I am finding myself very fatigued as I readjust to a slower pace. Let down from all our hard work, I suppose. I've had time to talk to family about our experiences and continue to reflect on the last six weeks. I 'm going to start with a day in the life of an Amazonian workcamper and then share my thoughts on the broader picture of working for the world's largest retailer.

Greg would get up at 4:30 am. I was up by 5 am. He spent a career getting up very early. I've spent my life as much as possible, not getting up early, as I am most emphatically not a morning person! Everything had to be prepared the night before, clothes laid out, lunch and snacks prepared, and thoughts about the next night's dinner. By 5:45 we were out the door in the dark. Some mornings required scraping the windshield, and many days we had fog. Our six miles to the warehouse were driven on back country roads with a line of cars heading the same place.

Within minutes we encountered a glow on the horizon and 15 minutes later came to the intersection of the main route where the Amazon Fulfillment Center was located. As we waited at the light, traffic was snarled by the coming and going at the drug treatment center across the road. Apparently the overflowing parking lot and line out the door were people coming for their meth shots!

Entering the parking lot we found a traffic jam being directed by the local sheriff's department. The night shift and day shift of 5,000 employees enters and exits at the same time. The Amazon warehouse is like a small town sitting in the countryside. After parking and walking in and scanning our way through the security turnstiles we dumped our coats and cellphones in our lockers and found handheld scanners to begin our day. 6:30 found us scanned in and at Stand-up at the base of the East Mod, our four story assignment for the day. Managers are given a few minutes with a microphone to make announcements to the several hundred pickers while a volunteer led us in Amazon stretches to try to decrease physical injuries. A chant of “1-2-3 Pick!” and we read our first assignment on our scanners and pickers made their way to the four floors of the East Mod, grabbed carts and totes and started the 12-16 miles (a co-worker confirmed this while wearing a FitBit), of walking and picking for the day.

We had a 15 minute break mid-morning which we spent in the huge break room, a half hour for lunch, after which we had another session of announcements and stretches at Stand-up, and a 15-20 minute break mid-afternoon. Every break we ate since we were burning a lot of calories. Some days we walked from one side of the floor for one item, and back to almost the same spot for another item and repeated that dozens of times. Other shifts we were randomly directed to change floors many times during the day. Every floor change meant finding a new cart and totes on that floor, which on really busy days of Peak was often difficult and required a lot of walking around the huge floor to find one.

After our 10-11 hour day we put away our hand scanners, swiped our badges, visited our lockers and exited into the almost dark evening. A short drive brought us back to our RV for a quick dinner, showers if we had the energy and preparations for the next day. We were usually in bed by 9 pm.
Our experience at Amazon echoed what we had heard from others that worked there. Lots of hard work, a regimented atmosphere, and the opportunity to make new friends from Camperforce. For us it was also an opportunity to see the inner workings of the largest retailer in the world, and to test our ability to handle the physical challenge. Initially it was fascinating to begin the job, and to tour the warehouse. After a couple weeks we began to question the methods used and our past experiences reared their ugly heads. We were not there to change the system. We were there to be worker bees and make some cash. Too much time was spent on breaks trying to understand the random stowing system of items in the bins, and what algorithms were being used by the computer to assign us the ridiculous pick paths that caused us to walk so many miles and shift so frequently to the four floors.
By the third week we were in the “I don't give a s&*#” mode. We were not there to change or understand the system, but to be worker bees, earn our money and go home. By the last 3 weeks we were just pushing ourselves to finish the job and hoping to get off early, which of course we didn't. My title, “Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You” was the thought I had frequently as I evaluated our experience. I was grateful for the opportunity to earn some income, but as a child of the “70's, I was uncomfortable with the corporate practices. This is the world of big business and we were just cogs in the wheel of profits.

Would we go back again? Probably, because it is one of the few opportunities to earn a reasonable hourly wage. Next time we go in with eyes wide open. Do the job and get out. Earn the money and go on with our lives.

Update- We are currently at the Flying J in FT Pierce, FL along I-95. We left Saturday from Maryland and traveled for three days down I-95 with the Tour-de-Flying J's at night. Both of us left Maryland with the “family cold” so it has not been a fun trip, aside from the boring interstate and heavy traffic. Tomorrow we drive the 40+ miles to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and begin our three months of volunteering in one of our favorite places in Florida. Internet can be limited there, so we will make an effort to get posts and photos out, even if it means taking our wifi hotspot out to the main entrance to post!