Working at Amazon
Discussion
Anybody here had or has experience as a picker or packer in one of the huge fulfilment centres? (or warehouse to me and you LOL).
Ive been invited (by ADECCO who are running the show for Amazon) to a welcome event whatever that means but heard mixed reports about working for Amazon.......
and if you know what the welcome events entail that would very useful to know too......
Just got a slot and it appears each slot could in theory last up to 2 hours judging by the time of the next slot assuming they run them consecutively.
The confirmation email also states "to come away from the event with a firm job offer you must bring originals of the following documents".
has anybody been to one such event and come away with an offer?
I want to avoid being another stat in ADECCOs data gathering of candidates information. My gut tells me this could be a waste of my time but I will still attend but once bitten twice shy.
cheers.
Ive been invited (by ADECCO who are running the show for Amazon) to a welcome event whatever that means but heard mixed reports about working for Amazon.......
and if you know what the welcome events entail that would very useful to know too......
Just got a slot and it appears each slot could in theory last up to 2 hours judging by the time of the next slot assuming they run them consecutively.
The confirmation email also states "to come away from the event with a firm job offer you must bring originals of the following documents".
has anybody been to one such event and come away with an offer?
I want to avoid being another stat in ADECCOs data gathering of candidates information. My gut tells me this could be a waste of my time but I will still attend but once bitten twice shy.
cheers.
Edited by ToothbrushMan on Thursday 29th November 12:33
My son is at uni where they have a centre, and dropped out before attending his interview as he heard from other Students that they would drop people if they couldn't work their 24/7 allocated shift due to a daytime lecture clash. As a result they have a high turnover rate and are constantly looking for staff.
But, that is third hand information, at this point in time (Me to you).
But, that is third hand information, at this point in time (Me to you).
those reviews have put me right off. even taking into account a small % of ex workers who might just have a personal axe to grind the majority of those reviews make for sorry reading.
I dont think I have the temperament for being barked at to go faster by somebody stood over (when they could be getting their hands mucky and helping rather than just watching) if its clear I am going as fast as I can and sod how fast the next guy can do it. I am not him and he is not me - we are different human beings.
free lunch and drinks is good but "15 mins per week" for bathroom visits? What year are we in again, 1800s?
I might just have to bite my lip here go along as I have been invited up there - suck it up and keep in mind "its only a stop gap" and an experience.
the upside to the high turnover of staff could be that it ought to be easy to get a job any job with them and it keeps some money coming in until they tell me I am no longer needed for being too slow or going for pee once too often.
How much profit did they make last financial year? How little tax do they pay?
I dont think I have the temperament for being barked at to go faster by somebody stood over (when they could be getting their hands mucky and helping rather than just watching) if its clear I am going as fast as I can and sod how fast the next guy can do it. I am not him and he is not me - we are different human beings.
free lunch and drinks is good but "15 mins per week" for bathroom visits? What year are we in again, 1800s?
I might just have to bite my lip here go along as I have been invited up there - suck it up and keep in mind "its only a stop gap" and an experience.
the upside to the high turnover of staff could be that it ought to be easy to get a job any job with them and it keeps some money coming in until they tell me I am no longer needed for being too slow or going for pee once too often.
How much profit did they make last financial year? How little tax do they pay?
They were in the news not so long ago for... let's just say so I don't get sued... being unlikely to win employer of the year awards any time soon.
I too am unlikely to win said award but I doubt I'd make the headlines.
Just hit Google News and search "Amazon warehouse jobs uk".
I too am unlikely to win said award but I doubt I'd make the headlines.
Just hit Google News and search "Amazon warehouse jobs uk".
Edited by Hoofy on Thursday 29th November 13:29
OP I work for Amazon and am happy to answer any questions you have. Don't believe everything you read in the press but yes you will work hard as a picker/packer. At this time of year it's almost certainly a temporary Christmas job they are hiring for so don't expect it to go beyond January. If you want details better to PM me. It also depends somewhat on which site you'll be working at.
zbc said:
OP I work for Amazon and am happy to answer any questions you have. Don't believe everything you read in the press but yes you will work hard as a picker/packer. At this time of year it's almost certainly a temporary Christmas job they are hiring for so don't expect it to go beyond January. If you want details better to PM me. It also depends somewhat on which site you'll be working at.
pm'dI worked the Christmas peak 2014 in the Ridgmont warehouse as a picker. The following is a bit stream-of-consciousness, sorry it's a mess.
It's a mixed bag. Have low expectations and accept that out of the 3000 people they are taking on, they will have 300 people left at the end of January. Accept that you are more than likely expendable and don't give them any more than they pay you for because they do not care.
The metric they are watching is the pick rate. There is a little blue bar that ticks away on the scanner. When it's gone, you're late, and your name will be on the scoreboard with a yellow or red box next to it (instead of a green one). If you beat that bar, you're fine.
They give weekly reviews. 3 "below target" reviews consecutively, you're gone at the end of the week. You can use this to plan yourself an escape route. You have to underperform for quite a while to do this.
They will tell you to always put empty cardboard boxes (usually from pallet pick locations, where stock turnover is so fast it's not worth them putting into shelves) into the recycling trolleys. Don't bother - no-one else does and the blue ticking bar does not care. Clearing the boxes harms your score (relative to others) and improves theirs (because hunting through boxes that formerly held 5000 DVDs of "Frozen" when looking for the last DVD takes ages). Amazon won't single you out for this, and if they want to make their process more efficient they will eventually...
If something bad happens that harms your pick rate (eg. someone passed out upstairs from me, and my pick was in a cordoned-off zone for paramedic access so I was stuck for 10 minutes...) make sure the shift lead knows. They might be generous (?)
You can only make 1 mistake per 2500 picks - this is a stat that is also picked up on at weekly reviews.
You'll learn to identify a good trolley. This'll make moving through the aisles on any given floor just a bit simpler (won't have the tendency to veer into the sides etc). You'll need a new trolley when you get sent to a new floor.
Don't help clear blockages at the conveyor belt. Again, it's amazon's process that's cocked up, not yours, so it's not worth harming your statistics to help Amazon, because they won't reward you for it.
This is all sounding rather negative. It's, I'd go with, ambivalent. I wouldn't commute far to do it but I'd do it again if there was a warehouse near me and ?I was stuck for anything else.
Ok, it's nearly Christmas. This means things go a bit crazy at Amazon. This is the only reason to work there. It's good that it's temporary. You go in, work 4 shifts of 11 hours (7-6.30), and have 3 days off. They will at some point request you to do a fifth shift.
Hours up to 40 are paid at the marked rate. It exceeds minimum wage but it's not fantastic. £8.50 or something for days. Between 40 and 50 hours, you get time and a half. Anything in excess of 50 hours is at double time. The hard cap is 60 hours, and due to parking and other logistics that means you'll end up doing 55 hours (and being paid for something like 75 hours of normal time).
Take a packed lunch to avoid any possible queues in the canteen. You can get water to drink in the warehouse, to stay hydrated.
Ignore the stated lunch times. Go 15 minutes late, and return 15 minutes late. This avoids any metal detector queues (that are in your own time!). You don't get any grief about it.
Find the closest clocking machine to the turnstile that you pass through when re-entering the warehouse. It means you get to sit down just a tiny bit longer during your break/lunch.
If there is a lull in the day but they expect more orders later on, get them to put you on broom duty somewhere. It's not measured, you can mime working, and take the opportunity to go to the loo on the clock.
It's a mixed bag. Have low expectations and accept that out of the 3000 people they are taking on, they will have 300 people left at the end of January. Accept that you are more than likely expendable and don't give them any more than they pay you for because they do not care.
The metric they are watching is the pick rate. There is a little blue bar that ticks away on the scanner. When it's gone, you're late, and your name will be on the scoreboard with a yellow or red box next to it (instead of a green one). If you beat that bar, you're fine.
They give weekly reviews. 3 "below target" reviews consecutively, you're gone at the end of the week. You can use this to plan yourself an escape route. You have to underperform for quite a while to do this.
They will tell you to always put empty cardboard boxes (usually from pallet pick locations, where stock turnover is so fast it's not worth them putting into shelves) into the recycling trolleys. Don't bother - no-one else does and the blue ticking bar does not care. Clearing the boxes harms your score (relative to others) and improves theirs (because hunting through boxes that formerly held 5000 DVDs of "Frozen" when looking for the last DVD takes ages). Amazon won't single you out for this, and if they want to make their process more efficient they will eventually...
If something bad happens that harms your pick rate (eg. someone passed out upstairs from me, and my pick was in a cordoned-off zone for paramedic access so I was stuck for 10 minutes...) make sure the shift lead knows. They might be generous (?)
You can only make 1 mistake per 2500 picks - this is a stat that is also picked up on at weekly reviews.
You'll learn to identify a good trolley. This'll make moving through the aisles on any given floor just a bit simpler (won't have the tendency to veer into the sides etc). You'll need a new trolley when you get sent to a new floor.
Don't help clear blockages at the conveyor belt. Again, it's amazon's process that's cocked up, not yours, so it's not worth harming your statistics to help Amazon, because they won't reward you for it.
This is all sounding rather negative. It's, I'd go with, ambivalent. I wouldn't commute far to do it but I'd do it again if there was a warehouse near me and ?I was stuck for anything else.
Ok, it's nearly Christmas. This means things go a bit crazy at Amazon. This is the only reason to work there. It's good that it's temporary. You go in, work 4 shifts of 11 hours (7-6.30), and have 3 days off. They will at some point request you to do a fifth shift.
Hours up to 40 are paid at the marked rate. It exceeds minimum wage but it's not fantastic. £8.50 or something for days. Between 40 and 50 hours, you get time and a half. Anything in excess of 50 hours is at double time. The hard cap is 60 hours, and due to parking and other logistics that means you'll end up doing 55 hours (and being paid for something like 75 hours of normal time).
Take a packed lunch to avoid any possible queues in the canteen. You can get water to drink in the warehouse, to stay hydrated.
Ignore the stated lunch times. Go 15 minutes late, and return 15 minutes late. This avoids any metal detector queues (that are in your own time!). You don't get any grief about it.
Find the closest clocking machine to the turnstile that you pass through when re-entering the warehouse. It means you get to sit down just a tiny bit longer during your break/lunch.
If there is a lull in the day but they expect more orders later on, get them to put you on broom duty somewhere. It's not measured, you can mime working, and take the opportunity to go to the loo on the clock.
wst said:
The metric they are watching is the pick rate. There is a little blue bar that ticks away on the scanner. When it's gone, you're late, and your name will be on the scoreboard with a yellow or red box next to it (instead of a green one). If you beat that bar, you're fine.
They give weekly reviews. 3 "below target" reviews consecutively, you're gone at the end of the week. You can use this to plan yourself an escape route. You have to underperform for quite a while to do this.
You can only make 1 mistake per 2500 picks - this is a stat that is also picked up on at weekly reviews.
From what I remember of my time there in 2016, They give weekly reviews. 3 "below target" reviews consecutively, you're gone at the end of the week. You can use this to plan yourself an escape route. You have to underperform for quite a while to do this.
You can only make 1 mistake per 2500 picks - this is a stat that is also picked up on at weekly reviews.
You can get around the pick rate times by simply changing the item category you were picking, got told that by somebody who had worked there for a few years.
Mistakes were measured as a percentage against how much youve picked that day, as one day you could pick 2000 but the next day 1000 etc etc, depends on the items and amount required.
The main thing I learnt is... if you are friends with the people higher up than yourself, it doesnt matter if you show up late, go home early, or how many times you f
k up, you'll be just fine. This actually has reminded me of so much I seen whilst working there,
Sexual harassment, racism, blackmail etc
All done by the "bosses"
Then I have many of stories,
For instance, whilst major building work was taking place, you had to work basically in a circle to get out to the canteen which took about 15 minutes... so thats already half of your break gone, turn back around to get back to where you orignally came from and thats all your break gone.
If you're desperate for the money get a job at Amazon, but if you value your health and life, don't.
Sexual harassment, racism, blackmail etc
All done by the "bosses"
Then I have many of stories,
For instance, whilst major building work was taking place, you had to work basically in a circle to get out to the canteen which took about 15 minutes... so thats already half of your break gone, turn back around to get back to where you orignally came from and thats all your break gone.
If you're desperate for the money get a job at Amazon, but if you value your health and life, don't.
Interesting posts. We can see where it's going with that blue bar ticking down.
With the huge amount of data about staff and work rates at their disposal they will narrowing those goalposts all the time.
Just like olympic records a tenth of a second shaved off every now and again increases pressure on those working to conform.
Let's say the blue bar allowance for picking 1000 items is 6hrs, soon they will expect that in 5hr 59 minutes etc etc or it's a yellow card.
A well timed blow job for senior management seems to be the answer if you want to keep your job.
With the huge amount of data about staff and work rates at their disposal they will narrowing those goalposts all the time.
Just like olympic records a tenth of a second shaved off every now and again increases pressure on those working to conform.
Let's say the blue bar allowance for picking 1000 items is 6hrs, soon they will expect that in 5hr 59 minutes etc etc or it's a yellow card.
A well timed blow job for senior management seems to be the answer if you want to keep your job.
rsbmw said:
moneymakestheworldgoaround said:
peterperkins said:
A well timed blow job for senior management seems to be the answer if you want to keep your job.
Something that is rife within the Amazon I've worked at. 
wst said:
They will tell you to always put empty cardboard boxes (usually from pallet pick locations, where stock turnover is so fast it's not worth them putting into shelves) into the recycling trolleys. Don't bother - no-one else does and the blue ticking bar does not care. Clearing the boxes harms your score (relative to others) and improves theirs (because hunting through boxes that formerly held 5000 DVDs of "Frozen" when looking for the last DVD takes ages). Amazon won't single you out for this, and if they want to make their process more efficient they will eventually....
i find it hard to believe that someone as diligent and professional as this ended up working in a warehouse.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff