Amazon is the largest internet company by revenue in the world. According to Statista, in June 2021 Amazon Business registered an online reach of roughly 310.000 visits. Although the popularity of this company, in the past few years it has also received a lot of negative feedback from its employees. From working in bad conditions to earning a good wage, how bad is working at Amazon?
I wanted to take this issue to the next level and ask actual Amazon employees about their experience. I have interviewed Pol, 22 years old, and Xènia, 23 years old, who are both workers for the multinational at the logistic centre located in Martorelles, Spain.
Xènia started working for Amazon in September 2021 and decided to quit the month after. Her type of work was very manual and systematic, in her own words, “too mechanical and not very human”. She spent 8 hours of her shift systematically taking products out of boxes to put them in other boxes. Xenia worked 40 hours a week and her schedule was biweekly rotating: two weeks in the mornings (from 7 am to 3.15 pm) and two weeks in the afternoons (from 3.15 pm to 11.20 pm). Her salary was 1500€ per month, and she was hired by a temping agency.
On the other hand, Pol has been working in Amazon for around 15 months, also hired by a temping agency. He works 32 hours a week on a rotating night schedule from 12.45 am until 9.14 am. Pol’s work consisted of picking boxes, loading trucks and reparating packages. In this case, Pol earned between 1800€ and 2000€ a month and he thinks that “the salary per hour is quite good considering that I work at nighttime”.
When I asked them about what their rights as employees were, none of them knew the answer and Pol added that he didn’t get informed because he felt comfortable at work from the beginning.
Xènia had to do a group interview, where they gave them a very superficial and summarized explanation of how Amazon works and they also did a kind of course on safety and ergonomics regulations. On the other hand, Pol joined the company during the pandemic and he had to apply for the job online, where he had to answer a few questions. After that, he got contacted quickly to take a training course and prepare for the onboarding the week after.
Finally, I asked them both what their overall experience working at Amazon had been. Xènia said: “Personally, I did not have a positive experience as an Amazon worker since I consider myself a very creative person who needs challenges in his day-to-day life. At Amazon, I did the same thing day after day, and it was mentally exhausting.”
Additionally, Pol narrated: “In my case, I am very satisfied with the work experience, and I am waiting for new incorporation to return to work. I think it can be an economic opportunity that does not require any skills; It is true that the contract is monthly and you are renewed every month, but just by involving and making an effort you will see results based on your continuity at work.”
After all, I had the opportunity to talk to two people who had different experiences working for the same enterprise. This has changed my vision of Amazon, and I would summarize this interview by saying that different types of work adapt to different types of people. I would like to thank Pol Hernandez and Xènia Fuentes for their honesty and support in conducting this interview.
Have you had any bad experiences at work? What do you think about Amazon? Leave a comment!