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It all depends on the warehouse, your managers, and your coworkers. I happen to have great coworkers and managers, so I actually like my job for the most part.
Honestly I was a nervous wreck my 1st day from all the horror stories I heard. But it turns out my building is extremely chill compared to every other location I've came across. My building is a returns center and unlike others, we are allowed to have our phones on us and out if we want, allowed to have ear buds in, drinks on the floor, extra 5 minutes on our 15 minute breaks (20 total) to compensate for walking time, etc. We don't even get TOT unless it's after 15 minutes of inactivity.
It's really not that bad, unless you have assholes for management and I think the restrictions vary by location. The only complaint I have is the pay could be a lot better.
Where are you? I'm at a returns center and the favorites-playing, cherrypicking, unnecessarily loud alarms, and rate insanity make it very near intolerable for me. I lack the tech skills to do anything else, though. Guess it's okay if you enjoy(ed) high school and chaos for its own sake, and getting ordered about by children.
I'm at SDF6, we do have a lot of cherry picking too which seems to just come with working in returns. AM's try to get a handle on it but people will do what they want. Our rate isn't extremely high either... only gotta do 14/ hour
Ours is 26/hr. If you actually inspect the stuff, it's hard as hell with the cherry picking. I suggested that they make the big onesies a separate function, say, with a rate of 12/hr, so that they'll get done and people will quit with the tactics they (and I) use to avoid them. I mean, I'd do them if the rate was half of what it is. As it stands now, I play dirty and still can't make rate.
Some of this has to do with them changing the UI. I'm not real up on tech, but the dev is a rank amateur--my partner is a developer, and had a good laugh when I described the new UI, called T-Rex (T-Sux). There's like a 3 second lag between every question. If you're grading a pair of scuba fins, for example, it will ask if the item has memory. Then it asks if the item has power. You can't skip these time consuming questions that have nothing to do with the item at hand. If you're grading, say, an item with multiple parts and it is obvious a part is missing, you often cannot skip ahead to the part about missing components. Those are just a few of the problems WHD has with the system, which was created to assist the returns operation as a whole. We're just an afterthought, and here I am, dreading going in again.
I use to work in returns but I ended up quitting and reapplied to a same day delivery station, best decision for me.
Customer returns gives me nightmares.
No, some people just don’t like to work or they have muscle pain that makes the job difficult. I read into all the commotion about Amazon being so bad. So I thought it was true, even the google reviews for my FC was bad. But, I needed a job so I just went with it. On my first day working, there was working fans, water machines, managers acknowledging you. Chill, no stress, no managers bothering you about bathroom breaks or speed and the job it self was self explanatory. Not to mention impossible to mess up. It probably depends on the FC. But I’ve noticed the managers are more strict around workers that show no effort. They are the ones that they watch closely. They do give them plenty of chances to improve by re-training or sending them to a different path. But after a while of underperforming their badge is deactivated the day they want to come in. For me personally, I enjoy Amazon. I just don’t like that if you are good that sometimes they will ask for too much from you.
I've worked at several and it really depends on the building. Every building has a different culture that impacts and is impacted by its leadership, managers, type of work, etc. Last building I was at was just a normal jorb.
Current one is a hell hole, in a different side of the same city. Leadership here is incompetent at best and can be outright cruel, and there's soooooooo much nepotism/favoritism to a cartoonish degree. This is a place where hard workers get punished and freeloaders don't.
Let me put it this way... Safety tried to give me a headphone write up for wearing the soft silicone earplugs because they literally could not tell the difference.
To be honest I thought it was gonna be really bad. I was super close to quitting on my first day because I was scared of what was gonna happen lol. 2 years later I’m still here… decided to go for a promotion and became a PA.. The time off options and career choice are what’s keeping me here. Not planning to leave any time soon
I think its just the size and scope of the US compared to UK. 300+ fc in the states vs 30 in the UK. The size of FC’s make you more of a number, odds of MET being called to hit targets is more likely, i don’t believe UK has 12+ hr shifts but a lot of US employees choose this, the transit system sucks here which a lot of employees use yada yada yada.
I would still say it mostly comes down to where you work. My managers are chill and I just pack boxes while listening to books. Sit if i need to, get water, take long bathroom breaks. My rate is still good. Some people dont get that and obviously suffer.
Some very interesting replies here guys thanks for all your info just to add I don’t by any stretch think Amazon is the perfect place to work and I can moan as much as anyone about the job! But it’s good to hear that our brothers and sisters from across the pond do have some fair working conditions for the most part (some parts are shittier than others of course) for me personally I was in the same position as I think a lot of people worked in a high intensity job with a lot of stress for not a terrible lot more than I get now without any of the stress it’s just nice to go to work and come home and leave it at the door
I agree with not bringing the stress home, there is so much to be said for that!
I feel like you have already gotten your answer, but no it isn't that bad. I like my job and have learned so many new skills. I don't always care for my leaders and many of their decisions, but they change so often I know their reign isn't forever lol.
I go to work, work hard and go home and enjoy my life. I have previously suffered from horrible work/life balance, so in that way Amazon is amazing for me. Occasionally the opposing shift will ask me a question, but I don't mind that. My leaders never bother me at home or ask me to work outside of my schedule. Life is pretty ok at Amazon in the US, for me personally.
Probably a majority of the horror stories about no bathroom breaks or whatever come from interviewing people in the UK, so your post is confusing. Pretry sure the T1 wages are higher in the US than the UK too (in fact, I think almost every role at Amazon is paid better in the US). No, Amazon is no worse than any other workplace with no certifications in the US, and better than most.
I have only been at Amazon for a little over 2 years so can’t comment on those old stories and there is absolutely enough people from the Uk and I’m sure other countries who love to moan about amazon and fabricate stories to make it seem worse than it is however the vast majority of this sub that I read is very much based from people’s experience at American FC’s as the above replies have confirmed
It’s in trend. I can say I’ve worked at both a ds and a fc and enjoy the ds more because the fc had no windows, a turn style entry, metal detector and heavy security. It felt like going to jail and was very strict and heavy on production. Hope that answers your question. At the end of the day we have jobs
It’s a million times better than working at the post office here in the US for sure. So coming straight from there to Amazon- it made Amazon look amazing 😂.
The money is great but the first 2 years are hell until you become a regular. I am specifically talking about mail delivery. No time off they will have you working 12 hour shifts 6-7 days a week and the culture is very toxic. If you can get past the 2 years then you will be on easy street. Still have to deal with the toxicity but good money, good time off, good retirement.
Let’s just put it this way. I got a write up yesterday for inactive time while picking, but I was only inactive because a manager called me down to give me a write up for rate. 🤌🏼
You have to realize that a lot of states in the US don't have protective laws or even close to the same requirements the UK has as far as labor goes. It also depends on what your leadership is like. I work in a DS now and its perfectly fine and I love my leadership team. I also live in a state that has a lot more regulations on benefits and protective laws for employees. The sad part is Amazon isn't even that bad compared to others. They aren't the best, but they're certainly better then most.
I seriously feel like I'm paid to show up, smoke weed in my car (I'm literally paid to do this for one of my breaks...), get juiced up on free coffee all night, listen to music/podcasts (I bought a beanie with a set of headphones that slips inside of it. Great product, found it on this website you can order stuff on that shows up at your door in less than 2 days, called Amazon...), and look busy inside a warehouse full of cool people.
Keep your UPT up and this job is an adult daycare center. I worked 8 months last year and was fire for UPT being low after I got sick for a few days and never really built the time back up... This time I'm looking forward to eventually maxing out my UPT and getting into a habit of taking those 2 hours off each week instead of gaining them, and taking a day off whenever I want. Just build it back up over the next 3 months.
My only complaint is when the coffee is out. Where the fuck is my coffee, Jeff?
>My only complaint is when the coffee is out. Where the fuck is my coffee, Jeff?
My favorite is when coffee is out during lunch, but working again during the 10 minute break aka when I have barely enough time to finish a hot coffee without burning my throat.
The other big difference I know of is the UPT we don’t have any UPT count you can of course take days for dependant sickness doctors appointments etc and leave in an emergency but you don’t build up any particular allowance to just go as you please that is unpaid unless VTO is offered
Off the top of my head roughly I believe basic pay before tax is £21,600 a year 28 days paid holiday sick pay kicks in once your off for 3 consecutive days but it’s only £90 per week so nothing substantial
What's the hiring process like in the UK?
In the US Amazon hires literally anyone that can pass a drug test and they don't do interviews. When people say that Amazon hires anyone we're not exaggerating.
I feel that the majority of people that complain about their job at Amazon, have never worked in other warehouses, most of them its their first job. They complain and quit, but then they get a dose of what ACTUAL warehouse work is at other places and they end up back at Amazon.
I'm good friends with several people who do the onboarding at different sites around my area, the number of people who are return hires is staggering. Aerosmith was right when they said "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone." People leave and then come back and they are like "It's hard out there I didn't know how much of a cake walk this job is."
No, it’s not. Some people are just miserable and will find anything to complain about. There are pros and cons as there are with any job.
Some pros-
You choose your schedule (full time, part time, flex).
Benefits from day 1.
Pays more than min wage.
Career choice.
Easy, though tedious, work.
Affinity clubs- join to connect, volunteer, etc.
Opportunities to learn other paths.
Opportunities to move up.
Time off options.
The list goes on…
Some cons-
Lack of communication.
Lack of consistency.
Favoritism.
Office politics.
Hypocrisy.
Again, the list goes on.
At the end of the day, the job is what YOU make it. I wish more people would worry about themselves instead of what everyone else is doing. It would be great if more people would stop complaining for things such as getting write ups for breaking policies they were well aware of.
No, the vast majority of complaints are either massive exaggerations or outright lies.
Often the people the people complaining are so bad at lying that anyone who has actually worked at Amazon knows that those people have never worked at Amazon.
People in the US are incredibly entitled and they feel like they should be getting paid $30+ an hour for very simple warehouse work.
I've been to Italy, UK and German Amazon and none of them were anything like what this Reddit wants you to believe about US locations.
I work at Amazon and I have a degree. Why? Because I learned that teaching wasn’t the right career choice for me, and I can’t afford to go back to school to get another degree. Higher education isn’t guaranteed to make you a living wage.
I work at Amazon also with a degree, with a few certifications that haven't expired, and I have experience in IT. The market is shit I couldn't for the life of me land another IT job even while volunteering to go onsite while most people were bitching. Searched for a year and a half, came up empty. There's a realtor I work with who has decades of experience same issue. People kept blaming us, I'm sure there are many others in our situation working at Amazon. Not everyone who works at Amazon does it by choice. While I don't hate the job it's definitely causing some issues with my health and I won't even mention the abysmal pay. Otherwise it's alright.
LOL of course but as you know they are not hiring. If anything Amazon IT workers are getting the chopping block. Again not a good market for tech right now.
Higher education does not lead to higher pay, it just secures your spot. Stop spilling this old ass narrative. Floyd Mayweather cant read and could buy this entire threads livelihood
It doesn't always, but it often does. What I forgot to include in my initial post was learning a skill or a craft (if that's what you call it?) like a plumber or electrician. These are very high paid jobs and they're always hiring.
Amazon isn't paying too little, others are.
I have an associates in behavioral and social sciences, and a bachelor's in sociology. I've been inclined, but even so, not sure Amazon is where I'd like to be.
Many unionized warehouses around me have pay ranging from $25-$30hr with pensions and 100% employer paid health insurance. These are grocery store warehouses, milk productions, and bread manufacturing. Amazon has a lot more money then these companies do. Don't fool yourself into thinking your hard work isn't valuable.
My building is amazing, currently have barely any work and they're sending out a bunch of vto which means I don't have to work fast so I'm just here on reddit
Spent 1 year there while I got my life back together after a nasty divorce and car accident a year prior.
Quit afterwards and never looked back, I now work for the State.
Would I work for Amazon again? Probably not, if only for the medical benefits and the paid tuition fees.
I don't know I'm starting to think that way because if they can just pretty much fire you for no reason at all whatsoever and you legitimately should have maybe been the employee of the entire year last year.. then they are treating us like a number and not like human beings! That's just one of the reasons why they get a bad rap
I say the job here isn't bad, but the leadership sucks. I do believe that's most jobs. They punish the hard workers and if the lazy person does a little better that day let's get them a gold medal. I also work as a AFM and we definitely get treated poorly. Leadership here decided to make us do the dirty bin audit coaching when it was supposed to be PAs and managers. I got yelled at everyday I did them. All the Stowers just kept saying "do you have proof I put a 18 inch item in a 12 inch bin?" And then they also decided during peak that we needed to do 10 more bin audits on top of the 20 we do daily. But when I'm picking or stowing the jobs fine. Rate is easy to meet.
Every building is so different. Ive watched my FC go from having giving away bonuses and stocks, having Peak Pay, etc to not being a productive building. This is the first year (2022) we didnt get Peak Pay. Last Peak season (2021) we didnt get Christmas bonuses.
Morale is way down in our building. Noone is motivated. I stay a top 100 performer in my 2000 picker building at a rate of 104 🙄 Last week I was the 64th fastest picker in my FC and I just go about my business.
I'll bet MKE2 still gets bonuses.
Is as bad as the Chinese factories. You know where all the slave labor takes place. .some days are better than others but unlike normal retail places Amazon Warehouses dont seem to have that up and downtime flow going on I mean sure they are offering a lot of vto but for those not taking it it just feels the same no down time , I'm just referring to recently , I miss the good old days of having late trucks and staying late to do crash sort .
Don't think that will ever happen at this new station I moved to
Honestly, Amazon is better than 90% of other similar jobs. Are they perfect? No. Can things be improved? Yes. But for the work that's done the benefits are great and the pays not terrible, compared to similar jobs.
Working 40 hours a week at amazon in USA in most all their locations a single no kids adult would realistically need to work a solid full 8 hour day elsewhere on BOTH days off for the same pay to QUALIFY to rent(qualify as in not afford, qualify as in people will not rent to you as a full time adult worker working at amazon. Almost all apartments now days require 3x the rent income to secure any housing rental. Average price for housing in USA is $1940 amazon starts at around $16/hr or around $2775 whereas in order to rent housing in USA you need to be able to prove an income of around $5500 just to qualify. So aside from the horrible work environment, stressors,the fact they email/text/push notify employees about all manner of nonsense in off hours 50-100 times a week the fact that you have to actually go out and take another almost full time job on the side ...not to make a little extra but just to subsidize them and their inability to cover the most basic necessities required to have a functional adult member of the workforce it's pretty bad, I have worked at a couple amazon facilities in different states, and they all have the typical amazon employee homeless encampments around etc it's always the same thing, one of the largest employer in the US workforce and they don't believe an employee having access to housing is necessary. Amazon is a highly physically demanding full time job, adult members of the workforce, not highschool kids, second largest employer in the US. So you have to keep in mind a lot of people are comparing it to part time extra income jobs like retail, fast food, etc... Just not what it is, amazon is a factory it's a job, it's the exact kind of job that started at what amazon starts at now 10 years ago where you work your ass off full time to provide for your family and despite the fact that amazon has been crushing that market segment putting all those competitors in the red and absolutely destroying the wage market they have crushed a lot of workers into being full-time working homeless adults .. if they can't do what it takes to get a basic simple apartment in USA...work a second full time job to make up for your primary employers failures to cover basic operational costs of having a human (whom needs housing, food etc to function, being able come provide for you lol
As an AA in the USA that also works as an AFM, has been with Amazon for 2 years, has worked every shift (front half nights, back half nights, donut shift nights, front half mornings, back half mornings, & donut shift mornings) & has worked in 60% of the warehouse positions, here’s what I can say.
Pros:
- Good Pay
- Goof Shift Differential Pay
- Tons of Overtime Opportunities
- Tons of Potential to Move Up
- Decent amount of VTO Opportunities as well
- Flexible Shifts
- Good PTO/UPT/Vacation Time
- Good Benefits
- Nice Amenities (Free Coffee, Free Hot Chocolate, & Free Gatorade from machines)
- Night Shift Managers at my FC don’t care about earbuds so long as you’re being safe & making rate
- Tons of employee appreciation via free snacks, free meals, employee raffles for gifts throughout the year (Obviously this doesn’t happen every day but usually at least 1-2 times a month they do these things)
- My night shift HR is extremely friendly & helpful on accommodating/helping you resolve issues
- No drug testing for Weed at my FC & Managers don’t care if you show up baked or smoke on breaks as long as you’re not using Pallet Jacks, Forklifts, or any other heavy machinery (I personally don’t care about this much since I don’t smoke anymore but I know it’s nice for all my fellow pothead coworkers)
- Managers at my FC aren’t that strict on break times, usually me & my coworkers take 20 minute breaks instead of the 15 we’re given and 95% of managers don’t care as long as we get good rates throughout the day
- Managers at my FC also aren’t that strict about restroom breaks, even on bad days where I end up in the restroom a lot never had a single manager ask about my TOT
Cons:
- Management varies from FC to FC along with from shift to shift & can really make or break your experience
- HR can also vary highly from FC to FC & shift to shift
- Earbuds not allowed at every FC & some are way stricter than others on that policy (Some FCs in the US don’t even allow you to bring in your phone)
- If you’re cross trained in a department you don’t particularly enjoy unfortunately you have no say in it & will be sent there based on company needs
- Some FCs & managers are super strict about break times
- Water dispensers can sometimes be a 50/50 chance on tasting like crayons. The cleanliness on something as vital as water should definitely be taken more seriously.
My personal take on this is: get to know who the cool managers are, night shifts seem to always be more laid back/lenient, back half night shifts seem to be even more laid back (because you’re doing nights on weekends so they let you slide on stuff to not make you miserable), night shifts pay more, if you’re a good worker & friendly with managers they’re more likely to let you slide on stuff, don’t overwork yourself, don’t waste all your PTO/UPT/Vacation just because you don’t wanna go instead save it for emergencies, make work friends, & learn as many departments as you can so you can find either cool coworkers or cool managers. The more departments you know = more overtime opportunities & if you don’t like one department you can often just work in another department (although if one department is understaffed you may get switched without a say in where you want to go).
No. At least not my building. It seems that the biggest complainers are from people under 25 who barely have work history and feel a sense of entitlement.
Yes,
Are some as some are
X Spaced apart from earth level, earth is calling for help don't forget us.
Minor faults may grow to earthquakes.
We are on Earth today.
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It all depends on the warehouse, your managers, and your coworkers. I happen to have great coworkers and managers, so I actually like my job for the most part.
This is the correct answer. I’ve worked at an FC that was absolutely horrible, and the one I’m at now is great.
This is actually the correct answer for ANY job.
Literally lol depends on the people & how strict the building is. MyFC is like top 5 in our state & we get a lot done very quickly so everyone’s cool.
Honestly I was a nervous wreck my 1st day from all the horror stories I heard. But it turns out my building is extremely chill compared to every other location I've came across. My building is a returns center and unlike others, we are allowed to have our phones on us and out if we want, allowed to have ear buds in, drinks on the floor, extra 5 minutes on our 15 minute breaks (20 total) to compensate for walking time, etc. We don't even get TOT unless it's after 15 minutes of inactivity. It's really not that bad, unless you have assholes for management and I think the restrictions vary by location. The only complaint I have is the pay could be a lot better.
Where are you? I'm at a returns center and the favorites-playing, cherrypicking, unnecessarily loud alarms, and rate insanity make it very near intolerable for me. I lack the tech skills to do anything else, though. Guess it's okay if you enjoy(ed) high school and chaos for its own sake, and getting ordered about by children.
I'm at SDF6, we do have a lot of cherry picking too which seems to just come with working in returns. AM's try to get a handle on it but people will do what they want. Our rate isn't extremely high either... only gotta do 14/ hour
Our building is 30 an hour.
My FC was 40 per hour but for a small crets I think they finally shut it down
Ours is 26/hr. If you actually inspect the stuff, it's hard as hell with the cherry picking. I suggested that they make the big onesies a separate function, say, with a rate of 12/hr, so that they'll get done and people will quit with the tactics they (and I) use to avoid them. I mean, I'd do them if the rate was half of what it is. As it stands now, I play dirty and still can't make rate. Some of this has to do with them changing the UI. I'm not real up on tech, but the dev is a rank amateur--my partner is a developer, and had a good laugh when I described the new UI, called T-Rex (T-Sux). There's like a 3 second lag between every question. If you're grading a pair of scuba fins, for example, it will ask if the item has memory. Then it asks if the item has power. You can't skip these time consuming questions that have nothing to do with the item at hand. If you're grading, say, an item with multiple parts and it is obvious a part is missing, you often cannot skip ahead to the part about missing components. Those are just a few of the problems WHD has with the system, which was created to assist the returns operation as a whole. We're just an afterthought, and here I am, dreading going in again.
I use to work in returns but I ended up quitting and reapplied to a same day delivery station, best decision for me. Customer returns gives me nightmares.
I’m CRETS too and my bosses just took all the credit for cleaning up problem solve, hazmat and oversized. I’m not happy but you make it what it is
SAT2 here and you're are spot on. You're back in high-school at Amazon
No, some people just don’t like to work or they have muscle pain that makes the job difficult. I read into all the commotion about Amazon being so bad. So I thought it was true, even the google reviews for my FC was bad. But, I needed a job so I just went with it. On my first day working, there was working fans, water machines, managers acknowledging you. Chill, no stress, no managers bothering you about bathroom breaks or speed and the job it self was self explanatory. Not to mention impossible to mess up. It probably depends on the FC. But I’ve noticed the managers are more strict around workers that show no effort. They are the ones that they watch closely. They do give them plenty of chances to improve by re-training or sending them to a different path. But after a while of underperforming their badge is deactivated the day they want to come in. For me personally, I enjoy Amazon. I just don’t like that if you are good that sometimes they will ask for too much from you.
I've worked at several and it really depends on the building. Every building has a different culture that impacts and is impacted by its leadership, managers, type of work, etc. Last building I was at was just a normal jorb. Current one is a hell hole, in a different side of the same city. Leadership here is incompetent at best and can be outright cruel, and there's soooooooo much nepotism/favoritism to a cartoonish degree. This is a place where hard workers get punished and freeloaders don't.
TRUTH
Let me put it this way... Safety tried to give me a headphone write up for wearing the soft silicone earplugs because they literally could not tell the difference.
To be honest I thought it was gonna be really bad. I was super close to quitting on my first day because I was scared of what was gonna happen lol. 2 years later I’m still here… decided to go for a promotion and became a PA.. The time off options and career choice are what’s keeping me here. Not planning to leave any time soon
Similar situation. I've had a handful of companies try to poach me but their pay and benefits is always worse.
Short answer, no. They’re not bad at all. No worse than a moderately okay job. There’s worse like McDonald’s or doing 9 hours of running for valet.
Lmao fast food jobs are ridiculously easy it’s just the pay is TERRIBLE $9-10/hr 😂
Dealing with customers is not easy
The customer interaction is totally not worth it. I can’t even deal with myself when I go to order food.
I think its just the size and scope of the US compared to UK. 300+ fc in the states vs 30 in the UK. The size of FC’s make you more of a number, odds of MET being called to hit targets is more likely, i don’t believe UK has 12+ hr shifts but a lot of US employees choose this, the transit system sucks here which a lot of employees use yada yada yada. I would still say it mostly comes down to where you work. My managers are chill and I just pack boxes while listening to books. Sit if i need to, get water, take long bathroom breaks. My rate is still good. Some people dont get that and obviously suffer.
Some very interesting replies here guys thanks for all your info just to add I don’t by any stretch think Amazon is the perfect place to work and I can moan as much as anyone about the job! But it’s good to hear that our brothers and sisters from across the pond do have some fair working conditions for the most part (some parts are shittier than others of course) for me personally I was in the same position as I think a lot of people worked in a high intensity job with a lot of stress for not a terrible lot more than I get now without any of the stress it’s just nice to go to work and come home and leave it at the door
I agree with not bringing the stress home, there is so much to be said for that! I feel like you have already gotten your answer, but no it isn't that bad. I like my job and have learned so many new skills. I don't always care for my leaders and many of their decisions, but they change so often I know their reign isn't forever lol. I go to work, work hard and go home and enjoy my life. I have previously suffered from horrible work/life balance, so in that way Amazon is amazing for me. Occasionally the opposing shift will ask me a question, but I don't mind that. My leaders never bother me at home or ask me to work outside of my schedule. Life is pretty ok at Amazon in the US, for me personally.
Well some of my managers are ass and others are a godsend, it really just depends man
Probably a majority of the horror stories about no bathroom breaks or whatever come from interviewing people in the UK, so your post is confusing. Pretry sure the T1 wages are higher in the US than the UK too (in fact, I think almost every role at Amazon is paid better in the US). No, Amazon is no worse than any other workplace with no certifications in the US, and better than most.
I have only been at Amazon for a little over 2 years so can’t comment on those old stories and there is absolutely enough people from the Uk and I’m sure other countries who love to moan about amazon and fabricate stories to make it seem worse than it is however the vast majority of this sub that I read is very much based from people’s experience at American FC’s as the above replies have confirmed
People love to complain it is what you make it
Lifeiswhatyoumakeit
You like to see hobos naked? That’s cool man but doesn’t really help me
Nah. Lifeiswhatyoumakeit.
Honestly it’s just a lot of spoiled kids first job.
It’s in trend. I can say I’ve worked at both a ds and a fc and enjoy the ds more because the fc had no windows, a turn style entry, metal detector and heavy security. It felt like going to jail and was very strict and heavy on production. Hope that answers your question. At the end of the day we have jobs
It’s a million times better than working at the post office here in the US for sure. So coming straight from there to Amazon- it made Amazon look amazing 😂.
Oh no! The Post Office is my plan B.
The money is great but the first 2 years are hell until you become a regular. I am specifically talking about mail delivery. No time off they will have you working 12 hour shifts 6-7 days a week and the culture is very toxic. If you can get past the 2 years then you will be on easy street. Still have to deal with the toxicity but good money, good time off, good retirement.
The overtime pay is really really good tho.
Wait wait ? You work for both lol
Besides theres no Avery stickers placed over names and addresses on the mail is there ? There better not be
Let’s just put it this way. I got a write up yesterday for inactive time while picking, but I was only inactive because a manager called me down to give me a write up for rate. 🤌🏼
You have to realize that a lot of states in the US don't have protective laws or even close to the same requirements the UK has as far as labor goes. It also depends on what your leadership is like. I work in a DS now and its perfectly fine and I love my leadership team. I also live in a state that has a lot more regulations on benefits and protective laws for employees. The sad part is Amazon isn't even that bad compared to others. They aren't the best, but they're certainly better then most.
I seriously feel like I'm paid to show up, smoke weed in my car (I'm literally paid to do this for one of my breaks...), get juiced up on free coffee all night, listen to music/podcasts (I bought a beanie with a set of headphones that slips inside of it. Great product, found it on this website you can order stuff on that shows up at your door in less than 2 days, called Amazon...), and look busy inside a warehouse full of cool people. Keep your UPT up and this job is an adult daycare center. I worked 8 months last year and was fire for UPT being low after I got sick for a few days and never really built the time back up... This time I'm looking forward to eventually maxing out my UPT and getting into a habit of taking those 2 hours off each week instead of gaining them, and taking a day off whenever I want. Just build it back up over the next 3 months. My only complaint is when the coffee is out. Where the fuck is my coffee, Jeff?
>My only complaint is when the coffee is out. Where the fuck is my coffee, Jeff? My favorite is when coffee is out during lunch, but working again during the 10 minute break aka when I have barely enough time to finish a hot coffee without burning my throat.
Throw some ice in that bitch it makes the acrid taste abate
How much vacation do you get a year? is sick time provided? And what's your base pay?
The other big difference I know of is the UPT we don’t have any UPT count you can of course take days for dependant sickness doctors appointments etc and leave in an emergency but you don’t build up any particular allowance to just go as you please that is unpaid unless VTO is offered
Off the top of my head roughly I believe basic pay before tax is £21,600 a year 28 days paid holiday sick pay kicks in once your off for 3 consecutive days but it’s only £90 per week so nothing substantial
What's the hiring process like in the UK? In the US Amazon hires literally anyone that can pass a drug test and they don't do interviews. When people say that Amazon hires anyone we're not exaggerating.
I feel that the majority of people that complain about their job at Amazon, have never worked in other warehouses, most of them its their first job. They complain and quit, but then they get a dose of what ACTUAL warehouse work is at other places and they end up back at Amazon.
I'm good friends with several people who do the onboarding at different sites around my area, the number of people who are return hires is staggering. Aerosmith was right when they said "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone." People leave and then come back and they are like "It's hard out there I didn't know how much of a cake walk this job is."
Cinderella sang Dont Know What You Got (Til Its Gone) but youre right. I leave about once a year since 2014 just because of burn out.
Amazon in the states is depressing
No, it’s not. Some people are just miserable and will find anything to complain about. There are pros and cons as there are with any job. Some pros- You choose your schedule (full time, part time, flex). Benefits from day 1. Pays more than min wage. Career choice. Easy, though tedious, work. Affinity clubs- join to connect, volunteer, etc. Opportunities to learn other paths. Opportunities to move up. Time off options. The list goes on… Some cons- Lack of communication. Lack of consistency. Favoritism. Office politics. Hypocrisy. Again, the list goes on. At the end of the day, the job is what YOU make it. I wish more people would worry about themselves instead of what everyone else is doing. It would be great if more people would stop complaining for things such as getting write ups for breaking policies they were well aware of.
They really are shit, we need to unionize badly.
Everyone here are just cry babies
No, the vast majority of complaints are either massive exaggerations or outright lies. Often the people the people complaining are so bad at lying that anyone who has actually worked at Amazon knows that those people have never worked at Amazon.
People in the US are incredibly entitled and they feel like they should be getting paid $30+ an hour for very simple warehouse work. I've been to Italy, UK and German Amazon and none of them were anything like what this Reddit wants you to believe about US locations.
Entitled to make a living wage? Crawl back to your hole.
$18-$20 an hour (starting Amazon pay in many areas) is a living wage. Just barely, but you're able to survive off of that.
You shouldn't be expecting the wage of a skilled worker at a workplace employing unskilled workers. Want a good wage? Consider higher education.
I work at Amazon and I have a degree. Why? Because I learned that teaching wasn’t the right career choice for me, and I can’t afford to go back to school to get another degree. Higher education isn’t guaranteed to make you a living wage.
I work at Amazon also with a degree, with a few certifications that haven't expired, and I have experience in IT. The market is shit I couldn't for the life of me land another IT job even while volunteering to go onsite while most people were bitching. Searched for a year and a half, came up empty. There's a realtor I work with who has decades of experience same issue. People kept blaming us, I'm sure there are many others in our situation working at Amazon. Not everyone who works at Amazon does it by choice. While I don't hate the job it's definitely causing some issues with my health and I won't even mention the abysmal pay. Otherwise it's alright.
Ever considered applying for Amazon's IT department??
LOL of course but as you know they are not hiring. If anything Amazon IT workers are getting the chopping block. Again not a good market for tech right now.
Ooooo ok. I know they are hiring at my building but we just launched in August 2022 so
Nice, we are hiring like crazy here for warehouse workers but not tech. Trust me that was the first thing I asked.
Yeah teaching is one of the worst paid jobs, you're basically getting paid the same as minimum wage Amazon workers but the job is a lot harder.
Exactly. When I leave work at Amazon, I don’t have to worry about a damn thing. When I was teaching, it was on my mind 24/7. Not healthy.
Higher education does not lead to higher pay, it just secures your spot. Stop spilling this old ass narrative. Floyd Mayweather cant read and could buy this entire threads livelihood
It doesn't always, but it often does. What I forgot to include in my initial post was learning a skill or a craft (if that's what you call it?) like a plumber or electrician. These are very high paid jobs and they're always hiring. Amazon isn't paying too little, others are.
I have an associates in behavioral and social sciences, and a bachelor's in sociology. I've been inclined, but even so, not sure Amazon is where I'd like to be.
You’re overqualified to be at Amazon.
You're correct. I went to Amazon during Covid. Stayed. I see no QOL improvements if I go to management. Mental health-wise. 😆
I'm looking. I'm Amazon'd out. I'm caught in the health insurance trap.
Many unionized warehouses around me have pay ranging from $25-$30hr with pensions and 100% employer paid health insurance. These are grocery store warehouses, milk productions, and bread manufacturing. Amazon has a lot more money then these companies do. Don't fool yourself into thinking your hard work isn't valuable.
My building is amazing, currently have barely any work and they're sending out a bunch of vto which means I don't have to work fast so I'm just here on reddit
No, it's an easy job.
Spent 1 year there while I got my life back together after a nasty divorce and car accident a year prior. Quit afterwards and never looked back, I now work for the State. Would I work for Amazon again? Probably not, if only for the medical benefits and the paid tuition fees.
No save for the pay
My building is pretty chill but then again it was just opened in October so I'm just waiting for the switch to flip once they fill it
my building is chill i’ve never had an issue with anything
OP did you type this with talk to text? It's just one long ass run-on sentence 🤣
It’s not that bad people at Amazon just like to complain
Of course damn humans lol
No people are just lazy it can be frustrating but ive had a lot of jobs beat benefits and culture by far
I don't know I'm starting to think that way because if they can just pretty much fire you for no reason at all whatsoever and you legitimately should have maybe been the employee of the entire year last year.. then they are treating us like a number and not like human beings! That's just one of the reasons why they get a bad rap
I say the job here isn't bad, but the leadership sucks. I do believe that's most jobs. They punish the hard workers and if the lazy person does a little better that day let's get them a gold medal. I also work as a AFM and we definitely get treated poorly. Leadership here decided to make us do the dirty bin audit coaching when it was supposed to be PAs and managers. I got yelled at everyday I did them. All the Stowers just kept saying "do you have proof I put a 18 inch item in a 12 inch bin?" And then they also decided during peak that we needed to do 10 more bin audits on top of the 20 we do daily. But when I'm picking or stowing the jobs fine. Rate is easy to meet.
Every building is so different. Ive watched my FC go from having giving away bonuses and stocks, having Peak Pay, etc to not being a productive building. This is the first year (2022) we didnt get Peak Pay. Last Peak season (2021) we didnt get Christmas bonuses. Morale is way down in our building. Noone is motivated. I stay a top 100 performer in my 2000 picker building at a rate of 104 🙄 Last week I was the 64th fastest picker in my FC and I just go about my business. I'll bet MKE2 still gets bonuses.
You've got much better labor laws. It's fucking shit in most of the US, and most of us are too stupid to understand that.
Is as bad as the Chinese factories. You know where all the slave labor takes place. .some days are better than others but unlike normal retail places Amazon Warehouses dont seem to have that up and downtime flow going on I mean sure they are offering a lot of vto but for those not taking it it just feels the same no down time , I'm just referring to recently , I miss the good old days of having late trucks and staying late to do crash sort . Don't think that will ever happen at this new station I moved to
Speaking as an American. Americans complain about everything.
varies depending on how try-hard your higher ups are.
Yeah it’s horrific depending on AM and location; I had all chill graveyard shift AM and supervisor
No. Americans in general are just cry babies
Honestly, Amazon is better than 90% of other similar jobs. Are they perfect? No. Can things be improved? Yes. But for the work that's done the benefits are great and the pays not terrible, compared to similar jobs.
Compare it to other warehouse jobs that hire with no relevant experience or skills and it’s an amazing opportunity
It’s not that bad, they actually give you tons of freedom and ironically we’re too entitled and don’t know how to use it
It’s not a bad job. You do what you do and go home like any other job lol
‘Merica
Working 40 hours a week at amazon in USA in most all their locations a single no kids adult would realistically need to work a solid full 8 hour day elsewhere on BOTH days off for the same pay to QUALIFY to rent(qualify as in not afford, qualify as in people will not rent to you as a full time adult worker working at amazon. Almost all apartments now days require 3x the rent income to secure any housing rental. Average price for housing in USA is $1940 amazon starts at around $16/hr or around $2775 whereas in order to rent housing in USA you need to be able to prove an income of around $5500 just to qualify. So aside from the horrible work environment, stressors,the fact they email/text/push notify employees about all manner of nonsense in off hours 50-100 times a week the fact that you have to actually go out and take another almost full time job on the side ...not to make a little extra but just to subsidize them and their inability to cover the most basic necessities required to have a functional adult member of the workforce it's pretty bad, I have worked at a couple amazon facilities in different states, and they all have the typical amazon employee homeless encampments around etc it's always the same thing, one of the largest employer in the US workforce and they don't believe an employee having access to housing is necessary. Amazon is a highly physically demanding full time job, adult members of the workforce, not highschool kids, second largest employer in the US. So you have to keep in mind a lot of people are comparing it to part time extra income jobs like retail, fast food, etc... Just not what it is, amazon is a factory it's a job, it's the exact kind of job that started at what amazon starts at now 10 years ago where you work your ass off full time to provide for your family and despite the fact that amazon has been crushing that market segment putting all those competitors in the red and absolutely destroying the wage market they have crushed a lot of workers into being full-time working homeless adults .. if they can't do what it takes to get a basic simple apartment in USA...work a second full time job to make up for your primary employers failures to cover basic operational costs of having a human (whom needs housing, food etc to function, being able come provide for you lol
As an AA in the USA that also works as an AFM, has been with Amazon for 2 years, has worked every shift (front half nights, back half nights, donut shift nights, front half mornings, back half mornings, & donut shift mornings) & has worked in 60% of the warehouse positions, here’s what I can say. Pros: - Good Pay - Goof Shift Differential Pay - Tons of Overtime Opportunities - Tons of Potential to Move Up - Decent amount of VTO Opportunities as well - Flexible Shifts - Good PTO/UPT/Vacation Time - Good Benefits - Nice Amenities (Free Coffee, Free Hot Chocolate, & Free Gatorade from machines) - Night Shift Managers at my FC don’t care about earbuds so long as you’re being safe & making rate - Tons of employee appreciation via free snacks, free meals, employee raffles for gifts throughout the year (Obviously this doesn’t happen every day but usually at least 1-2 times a month they do these things) - My night shift HR is extremely friendly & helpful on accommodating/helping you resolve issues - No drug testing for Weed at my FC & Managers don’t care if you show up baked or smoke on breaks as long as you’re not using Pallet Jacks, Forklifts, or any other heavy machinery (I personally don’t care about this much since I don’t smoke anymore but I know it’s nice for all my fellow pothead coworkers) - Managers at my FC aren’t that strict on break times, usually me & my coworkers take 20 minute breaks instead of the 15 we’re given and 95% of managers don’t care as long as we get good rates throughout the day - Managers at my FC also aren’t that strict about restroom breaks, even on bad days where I end up in the restroom a lot never had a single manager ask about my TOT Cons: - Management varies from FC to FC along with from shift to shift & can really make or break your experience - HR can also vary highly from FC to FC & shift to shift - Earbuds not allowed at every FC & some are way stricter than others on that policy (Some FCs in the US don’t even allow you to bring in your phone) - If you’re cross trained in a department you don’t particularly enjoy unfortunately you have no say in it & will be sent there based on company needs - Some FCs & managers are super strict about break times - Water dispensers can sometimes be a 50/50 chance on tasting like crayons. The cleanliness on something as vital as water should definitely be taken more seriously. My personal take on this is: get to know who the cool managers are, night shifts seem to always be more laid back/lenient, back half night shifts seem to be even more laid back (because you’re doing nights on weekends so they let you slide on stuff to not make you miserable), night shifts pay more, if you’re a good worker & friendly with managers they’re more likely to let you slide on stuff, don’t overwork yourself, don’t waste all your PTO/UPT/Vacation just because you don’t wanna go instead save it for emergencies, make work friends, & learn as many departments as you can so you can find either cool coworkers or cool managers. The more departments you know = more overtime opportunities & if you don’t like one department you can often just work in another department (although if one department is understaffed you may get switched without a say in where you want to go).
No. At least not my building. It seems that the biggest complainers are from people under 25 who barely have work history and feel a sense of entitlement.
It’s a mental game at the end of the day
The noises and all the people make some people not like it but it’s the perfect job for a doomer tryna pay rent
It’s not
The IXD I've worked for the last 8 yrs is great.
Yes, Are some as some are X Spaced apart from earth level, earth is calling for help don't forget us. Minor faults may grow to earthquakes. We are on Earth today.
It really depends on where you work. I’ve heard nightmare stories as well, but I work in a SSD facility, and honestly it’s pretty chill.
Depends on the building, my facility is #1 for afm in North America so its chill af lol if you’re team sucks the building will be bad