Black Friday Human Price

In America, it is now the height of Black Friday, and on this occasion, Vox interviewed a former manager of the Amazon - about what is happening in the largest online store during the fever of November and December. What do workers experience when they send 300,000 orders from a warehouse per day, and why do they have a whole-time attitude toward Christmas?

Last year, American buyers spent $ 7.9 billion on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Another $ 6.59 billion went to Cyber ​​Monday. This year, a very significant increase in sales is expected - up to $ 9.1 billion for a single emergency. And almost half of this money will go to the main US retailer, Amazon.

In 2017, Amazon accounted for 45% of online Thanksgiving sales and 60% of Black Friday’s sales (according to Hitwise). This year, the Internet giant plans to repeat these records. And even plays even more aggressively, offering even greater discounts on many thousands of products and removing the minimum cost of delivery throughout the United States for all buyers for the holidays. As a result, even a case for a $ 3 phone across half the country is delivered absolutely free. Other retailers from such offers, to put it mildly, are slightly shocked.

For Bezos, who is going to conquer $ 200 billion, and large shareholders of the company, such dominance of the online store promises big dividends. Buyers are also profitable: they receive goods below cost (at the time of emergency) and do not even pay for delivery. But there are losers at this celebration of life. Employees of the Amazon warehouses, whose income has recently unexpectedly declined , despite the efforts of Sanders , and they suddenly started demanding much more.

Free shipping, first introduced in these months, encourages customers to make an unlimited number of different orders. Now it makes no sense to strive to carefully collect everything in one basket. Meanwhile, warehouse workers need to process all this, separately pack and send it, even if they have ordered one toothbrush or a pair of socks. The “intolerable” working conditions, the abundance of demands and even the lack of the opportunity to go to the toilet, in order not to receive a fine, have been highlighted more than once by journalists . A few days ago, Vox published a new interview based on the results of a monthly correspondence with one of the former managers of the Amazon warehouse and a veteran of the US Air Force. On the right of anonymity. So that we know what really costs a cheap price to people.

- How did you get to work at Amazon?

“I always wanted to live in Seattle.” And it's hard to get somewhere else, Amazon is the biggest employer. I heard they pay very well, my friends worked there. Someone hated this job, others have been there for 10 years.

When I finished serving in the US Air Force Reserve in 2014, I tried to get them, but in the end I went to the business management school. I finished it in 2016, and decided to work in a warehouse in my region, then to transfer to the Amazon branch in Seattle. It did not work out. I worked at Amazon in California from September 2016 to August 2017.

- What was your position and salary?

- I was the site manager at the new warehouse, where about 1000 people worked. I supervised the packers (55 people). The salary is good, about $ 80,000 per year. I was paid more than usual because I had a master's degree and I said that I disagree on less.

- And many other veterans of the US armed forces worked in your warehouse?

- Yes, this is typical for Amazon. They love to hire us, because they know that we will keep our mouths shut, and we will not oppose the demands of the authorities. I think they like the hard order that the army teaches you. You need to be strong morally. I had a harder time at Amazon, everything is very cruel.

- How was the conveyor at your facility?

- First, the Kiva robot raises a shelf on which there are goods that buyers have ordered. He brings it to the collector, and shows on the screen what things he needs to grab. The collector takes the item, scans it, puts it in the basket. She goes to the packers, my department. My warehouse section packed about 60 parcels per person per hour.

- Was it difficult to work in the executive center?

- In the first week of training, while I was watching, it became clear to me how hard this work was. Workers have breaks, they can quickly run back at a certain time. We, as managers, do not get any breaks, even for lunch. Most of us just did not eat. And on my feet for 12 hours every day.

“So all of these investigations about ongoing surveillance and fines for breaks are true?”

- Yes, that's exactly what happened. We had to track and mark if someone had not packed for a long time or picked them up. If five minutes have passed without activity, we must go up and talk to the person. In Amazon, everything is tracked, every package is scanned, and it has a stamp with time. On a laptop, I could follow all the packers so that they had a constant stream. If someone needed to leave for 30 or 15 minutes, I scanned their badge so that the system would allow them to do so.

If someone was absent for more than 30 minutes, he received the first warning. If they were not at work for less than more than an hour, this is an instant dismissal, regardless of the situation. For me it was humanly difficult. The decision to dismiss the system was taken automatically, I could not help. I had to say to people many times that they were fired. Many were simply devastated because they needed this job for health insurance.

- What happens in Amazon warehouses during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday?

- Managers appear at work by 5 in the morning. We check that all systems are in perfect condition, so that all the packing stations have enough boxes so that the floor is clean and the Kiva robots can work without errors. Ordinary employees arrive at 7 in the morning.

Then the chaos begins. You're just trying to survive, and that the situation was more or less stable. The volume of orders for Black Friday seemed to have opened the floodgates. The flood. I remember how I looked at the log and saw that the number of unprocessed orders increased from 10,000 to 300,000. It seems that it is physically impossible to finish them. Amazon is a very well-oiled machine, it doesn't seem like chaos from the outside, everything is well organized. But when you are inside, on such days it seems that this is complete madness, and now you will drown.

- What is the clock?

- On Black Friday, and indeed during the holiday season, everyone works 6 days a week. Employees - 10 hours a day, managers - 14-18 hours. This is mandatory overtime, it is not optional, and you are constantly on your feet. Time off or half-hour breaks are not allowed, you can be fired.

Those who worked with us on Black Friday received overtime, every hour they were counted as one and a half. Therefore, at first everyone was very happy. But when the Christmas season came to an end, people were just worn out. Their forces were so exhausted that at the end of this month we lost most of our staff.

- What was the age of those with whom you worked?

- About fifty to fifty. Half the youth, directly from school, who do not take this seriously. Half are middle-aged people trying to feed their family.

- What is the atmosphere in the center of Amazon on Black Friday and in the holiday season?

- At first everyone was happy. People said, “Cool, I can make my family happy for Christmas. I will work like crazy, but then I can buy good gifts. ” But after five weeks, everyone was so sick of it that no one else wanted to work there.

More specifically, it was disgusting to me that it was after this holiday season that Amazon determines rewards and promotions. That is, I had to come to work after the greatest stress in the lives of my employees, and tell them which of them will increase and who will not. It's cruel. All exhausted to the maximum, and you and the workers, and then this additional burden. And this is after Christmas. It seems to me, from the side of Amazon, this is not a very honest manipulation.

- Is it difficult to be a boss in this position?

- Very difficult. I served in the army and worked for other companies; nowhere else is there such harsh conditions. I still regret how I behaved there. In all situations, you must remain human. I would like to be kinder to the employees I ran there. But this is simply no time.

One time, there was one little old lady who really reminded me of my mother. And I had to give her a warning because she was not packing the goods fast enough. Soon after, she was fired. I still remember, very unpleasant. I should have treated her with more sympathy and understanding.

Managers there are forced to actively seek out weak links in the chain, and rip them out to speed up the process. This is a pressure cooker, everything is under maximum pressure. Of course, if you want to achieve the level of efficiency of Amazon, no other way.

- What do you think about the recent salary increase to $ 15 per hour?

- I think this is not enough. Social packages and additional incentive programs were cut. Many will get less. Jeff Bezos is unreal rich, and the workers can not pay for the education of their children. And this is when they are on their feet for 12 hours a day and not seen with the family. In any moral society, I think this should not be.

- You yourself are now buying on Amazon on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday?

- I buy. I am boycotting Prime Day (July Day discounts exclusively from Amazon), but I still order goods from them in November-December. This is unpleasant for me, but it would be unwise to save them here. Besides, I don’t think that if I stop ordering from them, it will affect something. They will not change their practices.

Also, my family lives far away from me, and ordering something for them on Amazon is the easiest way to send a gift. But I constantly think about what I went through in their executive center, and I regret a lot. I think this time of year is now ruined for me forever.

- What would you like people to know about Black Friday and Amazon?

- Buyers need to understand that free shipping is still worth something. Not for you, but for the people who do all this. Yes, you buy things that are cheaper and delivered faster, but this low price of goods is artificial. It's just that other people are paying for it. Amazon’s dominance in the market is not as good as it seems to many. Yes, they are expanding, and make purchases faster and cheaper. But their logistical system is built on the fact that people develop themselves to the bone, and then replaced by others.

PS Meanwhile, Bezos is not sleeping, the proposals are coming, and Black Friday of this year on Amazon is already in full swing. Here are some of the most interesting discounts:

• Xbox One X 1 TB console with a discount of $ 100 for $ 399 (26,300 rubles). Price in Russia: from 37,000 rubles.
• Lenovo Yoga Book 10.1 tablet on Amazon with a discount of $ 220 for $ 261 (17,200 rubles), the same in Russia - from 45,000 rubles;
• SSD ADATA SU655 480GB with a discount of $ 40 for $ 60 (3960 rubles). Price in Russia: 5290 rubles.

Other current offers are updated every hour on their page .

All this can be safely bought from Russia. Simply register at Pochtoy.com, get a personal address for purchases in America, and send parcels to it (Amazon safely accepts cards from Russian banks, for which thanks to him). Habr's readers get a 7% discount from us on delivery using the HABR code.