The employees say they're left physically and mentally exhausted at the end of each shift. Amazonian 1 says that if you're collecting 'small items' from the shelves, you're expected to collect about 120 products an hour - two items every minute. ( Supplied: Amazon)Įach worker's performance is calculated into 'pick rates'. Management, of course, are right there alongside us.Īisles filled with stock inside Amazon Australia's Melbourne fulfillment centre. The sound of a bike bell dings before a trolley comes zipping around the corner of an aisle.Īfter we pass another 20 or so aisles, a packing supervisor tells us her understanding of 'Amazon pace' is working as quickly as what's needed to "get customer orders out on time".īut there is "no pressure", she adds. On the day of my tour, about 130 staff are rostered across the warehouse floor.
"They expect that of you, that's made very clear. "You walk at 'Amazon pace', which is just shy of jogging. "The timer disappears if you don't make it, just to put the fear of god into you. You're paranoid, you don't know if the manager knows that's unreasonable. "The item might be six aisles away and you have 15 seconds," he says. Once he collects and scans a product, a new item automatically appears on his scanner, along with a timer counting down how long he has left to find and scan the next item. "Your job is carved up to tiny tasks which means they can replace you easily and training is very efficient," Amazonian 1 says. Other teams stock the shelves and pack Amazon's trademark 'smiling' boxes ready for shipping. His role involves collecting items from the warehouse shelves to make up people's online orders.
The technology prioritises Amazon's same-day deliveries.Īt the start of his shift he collects a hand-held scanner 'gun' and trolley. Make history.' The company's motto is woven into a huge rainbow-coloured mural at the front of the warehouse.Īmazonian 1 works as a picker, one of the highest-pressure jobs on the warehouse floor, where algorithms determine how many items should be moved, stored, packed and picked within the hour. This is all designed to gear 'Amazonians' up for the high-pressure day ahead. The workers are asked to share an Amazon 'success story'. The supervisor asks someone to lead the daily team stretches. "I say Amazon, you say 'efficiency'," a supervisor chants. Teams huddle together on the warehouse floor at the start of their shift. "We strive to be a great employer in Australia and we believe we are making good progress but still have lots more to do," the company noted in its written response to the ABC's questions. But the tour did not answer our questions about working conditions. The warehouse is certainly an impressive and high-tech operation, as you would expect. Leave everything in the car except pen and paper, I was told. I was offered the warehouse tour - but with no cameras, no on-the-record interview, and no conversations with staff without a manager present. "Let's start again," the spokeswoman requested.
Now, Amazon Australia were sorry the ABC had not felt welcomed.
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Amazon initially "didn't feel comfortable" with any media coming inside, their public relations agent said.īut that changed after I sent Amazon a detailed series of questions about workers' claims. The invitation came more than three months after my initial request to see inside and speak to workers. This week, she took me on a tour of the warehouse. A beach scene peppered with Amazon's leadership principles greets workers before they pass through the Amazon warehouse security gates and metal detectors.Īn Amazon Australia spokeswoman told the ABC these claims did not represent the Amazon she knew.
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