Underappreciated and Overworked at Amazon A career with the company means ample hours and rapid promotions, but at what cost?
by Anonymous
was listening to my every anxious thought because when I looked at my screen, an email appeared. I double-tapped on the link, applied, and within 20 minutes I was instructed to take a drug test and submit legal documentation the next day. After two weeks, I was ready for my first day of working for Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world. I went to bed at 6:30 p.m. and woke up at 2:30 a.m. I brushed my teeth, kept on the black sweats and hoodie that I slept in and drove to the warehouse, five minutes away from my house.
I A
fter the pandemic hit this time last year, I was furloughed from both of my jobs in Long Beach and forced to move back to the small city that drove me away from my family three years ago. I was 23, unemployed and still in college when I moved back into the room I lived in when I was a child, except the house had become my dad’s man-cave filled
14
with weird paintings of fish bolted to the tan walls. One day I was resting, laid flat on my back as I dozed off while staring at the white ceiling when out of nowhere my phone vibrated by my side. “Amazon Warehouse Associate: New Station Launching!! Start pay $17.25, hiring immediately!!” It was almost like Amazon
walked up to the giant sign that lit up the black sky that read “Amazon Logistics.” I was welcomed by an overly happy team at the entrance, where I got my temperature checked and received a badge and an orange vest. We spent hours watching training videos in the breakroom, filled with balloons and sugary treats, took a tour around the warehouse surrounded by conveyor belts, and were introduced to our managers who were running on only a couple hours of sleep and gallons of coffee. Within the first week I was five pounds lighter from the 8 a.m. lunches, heavy lifting and the 20,000 steps I walked each shift. Every day was the same: start at 3 a.m., unload and sort packages for five hours straight, one and a half hour of prepping routes for Graphic design by Joey Abe
