Does anyone work for Amazon?

[gingerandproud4always]

I'm desperate for a job and there's a new Amazon near me. Does anyone have any experience of working for them? I don't disagree with you all about the moral aspect of it but I'm desperate! Thanks in advance.

I have a friend who does a bit of delivery on the side for them.

Their model is a bit shady - she gets paid more than MNW but that’s to include petrol/car allowance. But it’s flexible so it works for her.

Never met anyone (than I can think of) that works there full time.

I live near an Amazon warehouse and know lots of people who have worked for them.

Most have actually been happy there, it is obviously very hard work and it pays slightly more than similar unskilled jobs.

The problem is that almost all employees are hired by an agency so have no rights or job security. The agency fires everyone after 6 months so they do not gain employment rights and they will then take them on again after a gap of two months to get round employment law.

I have a friend who works for them, he packs the boxes when the items have been picked. He really likes it.

@Gingerkittykat that’s not true. My friend has beeb Working there over a year.

[quote HOkieCOkie]@Gingerkittykat that’s not true. My friend has beeb Working there over a year.[/quote]
Presumably your friend is not hired via an agency then, but direct through Amazon. It could still be true of the agency staff.

DH worked there for a bit last year when he got laid off right at the start of Covid. He found it fine, the money and hours were decent, physically taxing as on your feet all day.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz Possibly I don’t know the full ins and outs of her employment.

My son worked at the Bristol warehouse temporarily for a couple of months. He said it was ok and the pay was quite good…cannot remember exactly how much but definitely above minimum wage. The working conditions were not too bad . He left when he got a job that he is qualified for .

DD worked there for a while on an early shift. Agency employed - agency controlled. She was also told about the ‘get rid after 6 months’ by the agency - she left before that as she was also doing late shifts elsewhere and was exhausted.

The work was OK, money was good for a teen, colleagues were great. Nice perks - rewards and ‘prizes’ most weeks (she won a massive hamper of Hotel Chocolat one week!).

I have friends who worked there during lockdown 1. They actually enjoyed it, pay ok. Bit of camaraderie in the group. All got laid off without warning in January.

Dh used to work for Amazon many moons ago when it wasn’t very well known here. Hardly anyone had heard of it.
It was Back in the days people were just getting to grips with the internet! 😂

It was a good company to work for then but that doesn’t help now!

Sorry!
Your op just jogged my memory!

Get rid after 6 months is nonsense made up stuff. All seasonal businesses hire additional people for busy periods but a core of people are permanent employees.
Know lots of people working there. Most of the negative stuff people come out with is sensationalist tabloid fodder. Employees are better paid, better treated and more secure in their jobs than most retail jobs.

I did 4 months there last year and hated it.
It's exhausting, dirty and morale was pretty low.
Hard to make friends as you are constantly on a timer with everything that you do, your productivity is strictly monitored.
I did meet a few nice people but the warehouse I worked in was weirdly cliquey.
Of the 10 people I started with, only 2 were still there after 6 weeks, their turnover is HIGH.

Days are long, I did 6.45am-5.15 and you get 2x 30minutes breaks, this includes walking to the canteen which can take 5 minutes. Breaks are also strictly monitored, be prepared for a warning if you go over your time.

I left just before Christmas as I was refused any time off and realised that I didn't want to spend my Christmas there.
We were told the majority of staff get laid off by the agencies in the New Year anyway, the work is obviously pretty seasonal. Quite a few people I met would reapply every year, work a few months and then get laid off again, repeat to fade.
I would never go back.
On the plus side, I lost weight and got fit and the pay is decent, lots of opportunity to work overtime.
My advice would be to get the most comfortable shoes you can find, there's not a lot of sitting down.

I don’t think it’s quite that people get laid off after Xmas. They specifically get taken on for a peak period and know that.
Laid off makes it sounds like they immorally tempt people out of permanent positions into their permanent positions, then lay them off.
I know about 5 people who have worked for them seasonally via agency, and every single one has been quite clear: this is an agency seasonal job.

I worked in the warehouse picking orders for a few months. I actually really enjoyed it and would have stayed if I could live on the money. Once you're in a rhythm and have a couple weeks to get your bearings, the work is fast paced but doable. My health improved from spending all day rushing around and I loved that at the end of my shift I went home and that was it. No waking up in the middle of the night worrying about work.

DS worked in one of their distribution centres for 4 months last year. He left to go back to university. Chose night shifts as he got paid extra and actually quite enjoyed it, though was a bit bored by the end of his stint. Learned to operate a fork lift truck and got involved in delivering training. They all got a £500 bonus at one point, paid holiday from day one, paid leave for a bereavement. He found the experience pretty decent.

I do amazon flex delivery in my car.
I enjoy it as it’s part time, flexible and the dog can come with me. You are paid a set rate for the hours you work. as I usually finish more than an hour early, it works out as a very good hourly rate. On days when there’s lots of work/few drivers they will pay £20+ per hour.

@Gingerkittykat

I live near an Amazon warehouse and know lots of people who have worked for them.

Most have actually been happy there, it is obviously very hard work and it pays slightly more than similar unskilled jobs.

The problem is that almost all employees are hired by an agency so have no rights or job security. The agency fires everyone after 6 months so they do not gain employment rights and they will then take them on again after a gap of two months to get round employment law.

That makes zero sense. Employment rights kick in at 24 months.

Literally no advantage in what you say they do.

I did it for a couple of months during lockdown as my industry closed temporarily. It was bearable but very monotonous. You literally do the same task for 10 hours a day. The positive was a standard 4 day working week with 3 consecutive days off.

If you apply via an agency you can expect to be laid off in January. Amazon's own staff have permanent contracts but the majority of people on the floor in my location were agency workers.

@Gingerkittykat

I live near an Amazon warehouse and know lots of people who have worked for them.

Most have actually been happy there, it is obviously very hard work and it pays slightly more than similar unskilled jobs.

The problem is that almost all employees are hired by an agency so have no rights or job security. The agency fires everyone after 6 months so they do not gain employment rights and they will then take them on again after a gap of two months to get round employment law.

I worked for them recently via an agency and this is true about letting everybody go after 6 months. We got told that after signing all the paperwork though. It's all about hitting targets, targets, targets. No one speaks to each other as there is no time. Some days I turned up only to be turned away, as business needs meant you weren't needed that day. Or you could be put on standby... Or your hours cut. It was very unpredictable, I hated it.. but a job is a job and it was better than nothing.

Have you applied directly op sounds a better deal.

My BIL works for them through an agency. His contract for for Christmas and then he was kept on but has now received his months notice. They have all been told they can't be employed by Amazon again without a two month break. Which to me does seem like trying to get round giving people employment rights

My daughter worked for them for several months packing boxes. Pay was good, subsidised canteen, flexitime, overtime available, good HR support. Yes the work is repetitive and physical but she had no problem meeting targets and made some really good friends. She said she'd never slept so well or been so relaxed ... physically tired but no stress.
She left because she got a job in the industry she had been trained for. I'm not sure she'd have stayed at Amazon as a career although friends have but it was a lot better than previous hospitality and retail jobs.

The problem is that almost all employees are hired by an agency so have no rights or job security. The agency fires everyone after 6 months so they do not gain employment rights and they will then take them on again after a gap of two months to get round employment law.

Wow

@Slimmingstar

I do amazon flex delivery in my car. I enjoy it as it’s part time, flexible and the dog can come with me. You are paid a set rate for the hours you work. as I usually finish more than an hour early, it works out as a very good hourly rate. On days when there’s lots of work/few drivers they will pay £20+ per hour.

I always fill in and submit the ‘how was your delivery?’ form. Our Amazon deliverers are great, does sending the ‘compliment’ help them?