Online retailers can still operate

[ThisTimeMine]

So even though the company I work for sells a non essential product, I will need to travel to and from work and be crammed into a small space with strangers, who I know have not taken the social distancing thing seriously. Surely it should be key workers and essential online services only?!

Me too not allowed to leave the house but got to work in a warehouse with over 500 people and not able to social distance. I hope people realise that when they order online for non essential items like clothes they realise that people are picking and packing their items.

Exactly, it’s crazy!

Wew should all reduce our online shopping to protect workers

I work for a small company that does online orders, we have socially distanced by starting early and working late but alternating hours to effectively remove two people from the despatch area at any one time so there IS room, and our accounts lady instead of doing 3 mornings now pops in once a week for any paperwork and all the incoming phone calls, marketing, social media, website work, emails, everything else is now working from home with all meetings are online. It has improved efficiency as between you & me and the gatepost, 2 of the ladies in despatch now don't work together and don't help answer the incoming phone anymore, so spend longer packing even though their day is now slightly shorter.

I can see some long term changes here...I'd expect a lot of firms will be questioning whether to move more to WFH (part time at least), and reduce their office costs. It's very easy to do with modern technology.

So should we stop using online retailers to protect the workers or should we support online retail so there is still a company for the workers to work for?

The workers won’t need a job if they are dead. Risking life for minimum wage so people can buy non essential items.

The economy needs the money and their bosses need to work out which is the SAFEST way to do it

We are not there willingly. We are being forced to mix and work as our company's refuse to close.
If we don't go in we get sacked.
Most stores don't have any special measures in place.
Called unsung heros on here but are just to poor for anyone to care about because you all need non essential shit 🤷🏻‍♀️

But they dont LaurieFairyCake
The bosses dont care, they never did.

Employers are supposed to enforce a six foot working distance between employees, has this not happened at your place of work?

Fair enough, it was an honest question. I won’t do any shopping (no skin off my nose). I sincerely hope that your company decides to stop operating and that you can claim the 80% pay and that the company survives the shutdown so when this horrible business is over you still have a job to return to.

I was just coming on to start a thread about this asking what we should be doing, ethics-wise? Support (especially small) companies by continuing to order non-essential goods or vote with our feet and not order anything even though many may go bust?

I'm getting emails from places I usually order from assuring me that the staff are following govt distancing policies etc but who am I to know if that's true?

And I hate the thought of people being or feeling forced to go into work to, I don't know, pack up scented candles or kids' art supplies.

But some of these smaller companies may (??) be glad of/desperate for the support? Eg our local bookshop which has sent out an email asking for orders: they could easily go under and 5-6 people will lose their jobs plus the owner loses an excellent business. Should I order from them or not?

It's a genuine question. A couple have answered here already making it very clear their thoughts from their side. Would be really interested to know what others think in the position of working these jobs?

Not ordering anything at all (apart from essentials!!) until I get more of a sense of the right or wrong thing to be doing!!

The place I worked relied on school orders and orders went up when Irish schools shut.

However they did take things very seriously, split the shifts who are not to mix at all or even socially etc

I decided not to o work anyway

I am ordering stuff as normal, even though the holier-than-thou crowd on here think we shouldn't. If we all stop ordering, many people won't have a job to go back to at all. Even if companies can't process the orders as quickly as they normally would, having lots of outstanding orders probably means they're more likely to continue operating when this is over.

As it is, the economic fallout is already going to be massive, and I still say it's going to do much more damage than the virus itself.

So Nicola Sturgeon has released a further statement which would imply that all non essential premises should close.

I am honestly wondering whether to give up my job right now. Like others on here I work in a warehouse with 500 other people for a businesses which sells home furnishings through high street stores and online. They have shut down the retail side but the online side remains open.

There is no way we can practically maintain a 2m distance between colleagues, even though they are pretending we can, as most of my team's work involves doing two person lifts of heavy objects. The place is packed with pickers and packers all passing very closely together...it just will not work.

It took me three months to find this job last year...I am gutted that I might have to leave. I have a few £k in the bank and could live off it for a while.

I think many of us now need to ask if our lives are only worth £9 an hour.

@Cailleach

I work in similar though on agency and the warehouse is supposedly closing down later on in the year so the decision was easier for me (also vunewrable catergory)

I realise Ive probaly kissed goodbye to my job or anyjob for the next 6 months but health comes first