Jun 16, 2021 12:35:00

A report showing the poor working environment of Amazon is released

Amazon has often been pointed out problems related to the working environment, such as

'the problem that drivers cannot go to the bathroom' and 'insufficient measures against the new coronavirus'. Meanwhile, the New York Times interviewed many Amazon employees and summarized the current state of Amazon's working environment.

Inside Amazon's Employment Machine --The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/15/us/amazon-workers.html

9 devastating takeaways from NYT's report on Amazon workers
https://www.fastcompany.com/90647379/9-devastating-takeaways-from-nyts-massive-report-on-amazon-workers-during-the-pandemic

◆ New coronavirus infection (COVID-19)
Despite the global epidemic of CVID-19, Amazon continued to record incredible sales , with 2020 alone equivalent to sales for the last three years. But the New York Times points out that 'many of the million Amazon employees didn't benefit from it.'

At the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, Amazon provided workers with treatment improvement measures such as 'a salary increase of $ 2 (about 220 yen) per hour', 'double overtime pay', and 'providing unlimited unpaid leave'. Announced. However, in late April 2021, Amazon announced the end of 'unlimited unpaid leave' and shortly afterwards '$ 2 hourly salary increase' and 'double overtime pay'. Did. Regarding this change in treatment, the New York Times said, 'Amazon seemed eager to bring employees back to the warehouse to catch up with the market share gained by competitors by mid-April 2020.' I point out.

In addition, according to the New York Times, at least 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported between March 2020 and March 2021 at the Amazon warehouse 'JFK8' in New York. However, Amazon fired an employee who pointed out lack of information sharing about COVID-19. For this reason, in May 2020, the Attorney General of 13 states and special wards of the United States requested corrective action.

State Attorney General sends open letter about Amazon's new corona measures-GIGAZINE

◆ Employee monitoring
According to the New York Times, Amazon manages its employees mechanically using apps and chatbots. However, even before the pandemic, employees were dissatisfied with this management method, saying that it had an uneven and tense atmosphere. Amazon also claims to have hired about 350,000 new workers between July and October 2020, but many employees have been dismissed due to the automated hiring process. The New York Times points out. 'Before the pandemic, Amazon lost about 3% of its employees every week, which means that Amazon employee turnover is about 150% per year, which is common in the retail and logistics industry. It's about twice that number, 'he emphasizes Amazon's high turnover rate.

The New York Times also claimed that 'the infamous'pee

bottle'is the result of Amazon's reliance on strong and rigorous productivity indicators,' which Amazon mechanically manages employee workload and breaks. I have a problem with managing it.

Amazon acknowledges and apologizes for 'driver unable to go to the bathroom' --GIGAZINE

◆ Racial issues
Amazon's internal documents for 2019, discovered by The New York Times, found that more than 60% of JFK8 employees are black. On the other hand, Amazon's management said that more than 70% were white or Asian. It was also found that black JFK8 employees were about 50% more likely to be dismissed than white employees, regardless of their productivity or fraud.

In March 2021, workers at Amazon's warehouse 'BHM1' in Bessemer, Alabama, USA,

started voting to form Amazon's first labor union, but Amazon became a worker. It became a hot topicthat he was urging opposition to the formation of a union. After that, in April 2021, the formation of the union was unsuccessful due to the majority of opposition.

Amazon's union formation vote settled with 'Amazon's big win', Amazon's first union formation failed --GIGAZINE