- Feb 18, 2001
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Looking for a job? Thinking about working for Amazon? Think twice:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/inside-amazons-very-hot-warehouse/
"Amazon.com did not create the notion of buying things online, but it has done more than any other retailer to move the experience into the mainstream. It has exceeded its customers expectations so often it must constantly struggle to top itself. At first people were incredulous that the mouse on their computer was connected to their doorbell, the Amazon executive Russell Grandinetti said recently. Now they say: Its been 12 hours. Wheres my stuff?
All that stuff doesnt magically fly to your house, even if the goal is to have it seem that way. The Morning Call, a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pa., delivered a grim picture last weekend about what it is like to work in the local Amazon warehouse, sorting material for delivery to millions of eager customers. In eastern Pennsylvania, like just about everywhere else, jobs are lacking, and Amazon is one of the few places that is hiring. Many workers are brought on by a staffing company as temporary workers (Are you interested in working in a fun, fast-paced atmosphere earning up to $12.25 per hour? the ad asks.) This transient status gives them little incentive to complain, even as the heat boiled upward over the summer. The result was an environment that, one employee told the paper, resembled working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair.
In a lengthy and heavily reported article, The Call said a warehouse employee contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on June 2 to report that the heat index in the warehouse had reached 102 degrees, and that 15 workers had collapsed. The employee also said workers who were sent home because of the heat received disciplinary points.
Eight days later, the paper said, an emergency room doctor at a local hospital saw enough Amazon employees suffering from heat-related injuries to call OSHA and report an unsafe environment.
So many ambulances responded to medical assistance calls at the warehouse during a heat wave in May, the paper said, that the retailer paid Cetronia Ambulance Corps to have paramedics and ambulances stationed outside the warehouse during several days of excess heat over the summer. About 15 people were taken to hospitals, while 20 or 30 more were treated right there, the ambulance chief told The Call.
OSHA, which investigated conditions at the warehouse, told Amazon that the way the warehouse was run had the potential to adversely impact employee safety and health.
In a statement Monday, Amazon said, the safety and well-being of our associates is our number one priority. It stressed it took emergency actions during the various heat waves, including shutting down the warehouse three times, but did not specifically challenge any of The Calls extensive reporting.
Investors were undaunted; in the challenging Internet economy, this is the exact way they want companies to be run. On a down day for the market, the retailers stock rose $2.39 on Monday to a new high of $241.69, giving Amazon a market value of $110 billion."
:/
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/inside-amazons-very-hot-warehouse/
"Amazon.com did not create the notion of buying things online, but it has done more than any other retailer to move the experience into the mainstream. It has exceeded its customers expectations so often it must constantly struggle to top itself. At first people were incredulous that the mouse on their computer was connected to their doorbell, the Amazon executive Russell Grandinetti said recently. Now they say: Its been 12 hours. Wheres my stuff?
All that stuff doesnt magically fly to your house, even if the goal is to have it seem that way. The Morning Call, a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pa., delivered a grim picture last weekend about what it is like to work in the local Amazon warehouse, sorting material for delivery to millions of eager customers. In eastern Pennsylvania, like just about everywhere else, jobs are lacking, and Amazon is one of the few places that is hiring. Many workers are brought on by a staffing company as temporary workers (Are you interested in working in a fun, fast-paced atmosphere earning up to $12.25 per hour? the ad asks.) This transient status gives them little incentive to complain, even as the heat boiled upward over the summer. The result was an environment that, one employee told the paper, resembled working in a convection oven while blow-drying your hair.
In a lengthy and heavily reported article, The Call said a warehouse employee contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on June 2 to report that the heat index in the warehouse had reached 102 degrees, and that 15 workers had collapsed. The employee also said workers who were sent home because of the heat received disciplinary points.
Eight days later, the paper said, an emergency room doctor at a local hospital saw enough Amazon employees suffering from heat-related injuries to call OSHA and report an unsafe environment.
So many ambulances responded to medical assistance calls at the warehouse during a heat wave in May, the paper said, that the retailer paid Cetronia Ambulance Corps to have paramedics and ambulances stationed outside the warehouse during several days of excess heat over the summer. About 15 people were taken to hospitals, while 20 or 30 more were treated right there, the ambulance chief told The Call.
OSHA, which investigated conditions at the warehouse, told Amazon that the way the warehouse was run had the potential to adversely impact employee safety and health.
In a statement Monday, Amazon said, the safety and well-being of our associates is our number one priority. It stressed it took emergency actions during the various heat waves, including shutting down the warehouse three times, but did not specifically challenge any of The Calls extensive reporting.
Investors were undaunted; in the challenging Internet economy, this is the exact way they want companies to be run. On a down day for the market, the retailers stock rose $2.39 on Monday to a new high of $241.69, giving Amazon a market value of $110 billion."
:/
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