Workers at Amazon are Not Feeling Motivated

Across the globe at over 175 fulfillment centers, more than 125,000 workers frantically "pick, pack, and ship millions of Amazon.com customer orders to the tune of millions of items per year."¹Amazon's innovations, like free 2-day shipping for Prime members, dash buttons, and in-home delivery, have made the retail giant a standout in customer service. The company has consistently received award-winning customer satisfaction ratings.²Amazon became the most valuable public company and second largest e-commerce company in the world in 2019 by being hyper-focused on customer experiences.³

But many of Amazon's fulfillment center workers are unhappy with what they are required to do to assure these esteemed customer experiences.⁴The result has been public outcry, boycotts, poor attitudes and health, and extremely high turnover rates among workers. What's making employees so miserable inside Amazon fulfillment centers?

Working at an Amazon Fulfillment Center

Amazon designs its fulfillment center jobs for efficiency, with managers constantly monitoring and tracking employees in three primary areas. First, workers are monitored for productivity as they race to fill as many orders as possible to meet or exceed daily quotas. Those who don't meet their quotas are written up, and excessive write-ups can lead to termination.⁵A recent undercover investigation revealed that some employees are so fearful of missing their quotas that they forego taking necessary bathroom breaks and instead urinate in bottles and trash cans inside the warehouses.⁶The company is so dedicated to its productivity goals that workers reportedly don't speak to one another during their shifts, saying that managers strongly discourage any kind of camaraderie.⁷

Second, management monitors fulfillment center workers for security purposes. One employee described the environment as resembling a prison, noting time-consuming scans for contraband (e.g., sunglasses, phones, hoodies) and stolen items at the beginning and end of shifts.⁸There's also a custom of publicly shaming employees who steal from the company on flat-screen TVs and bulletin boards around the warehouses.⁹

Third, fulfillment center managers track employee attendance. Workers can be fired for excessive missed work days, or, as Amazon calls it, going into negative unpaid time off (UPT). Employees have reported being so terrified of missing work that they show up even when they are too sick or injured to work safely, in spite of the extremely physically demanding nature of the job.¹⁰

How Does Amazon Attract Fulfillment Center Workers?

How is it that news of a new Amazon fulfillment center is still seen as cause for celebration, given what has been reported about working conditions? Employment opportunities are one key explanation. The company tends to locate fulfillment centers on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas, often in regions that have yet to recover from the recent economic recession and are desperate for increased jobs.¹¹In other words, if Amazon opens a fulfillment center in your town, chances are your employment prospects will be better than those you've got right now.

Even so, many Amazon fulfillment center employees feel the compensation they receive is not commensurate with the extreme working conditions and job demands. Worker retention thus seems to be a function of a lack of viable alternatives rather than positive employee attitudes toward the company. As one worker stated, "that's what makes people not want to quitthe pay" . . . "you can treat me any type of way, since this is the best money we can get out here . . ."¹²

Amazon does provide some additional incentives to increase productivity at its fulfillment centers. For example, managers often hold competitions that reward employees with "swag bucks"tokens to spend inside the warehouse on things like t-shirts, water bottles, or cafeteria meals.¹³Other rewards reportedly include small gift cards and even cookies. Said one employee, "I don't want a cookie or a gift card. I'll take it, but I'd rather a living wage. Or not being timed when you're sitting on the toilet."¹⁴Another worker found these incentives insulting, saying that "around this time of year the managers, if their targets are met or exceeded, they get a bonus."¹⁵

Amazon implemented a policy guaranteeing a minimum wage of $15 per hour after receiving such negative attention in the press. This resulted in raises as small as 25 cents per hour, which many viewed as "damage control."¹⁶For some tenured workers, the new policy meant their wages became compressed and they lost important benefits they previously received, such as stock options and bonus opportunities.¹⁷

What's Next?

Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said "There's this way in which Amazon's warehouses are perceived to be a good thing for a community, but that's only because the context in which they are being proposed and built is so devoid of better opportunities." Said a current employee, "They're walking a fine line in the communityeverybody knows someone who's worked there, and no one says it's a good place to work."¹⁸

Some Amazon workers have attempted to generate interest in union representation but have been unable to gain the momentum necessary for an organizing campaign. This is likely due to two main causes. First, the fact that Amazon has one of the highest turnover rates in the United States means that employees aren't around long enough for a movement to take shape. Second, workers have expressed they are afraid to speak up and participate in organizing campaigns for fear of retaliation from the company.¹⁹

It's unlikely we'll see any sweeping changes to the way Amazon manages its fulfillment center workers in the near future. This is because Amazon already loses money on e-commerce and subsidizes the losses with other segments of its business. Any changes to the current state of affairs could mean a loss of our coveted cheap wares and free two-day shipping.²⁰

QUESTION 1

1. Which of the following best represents the main problem for Amazon described in the case?
2. Amazon is receiving criticism for poor customer satisfaction as a result of its employees' inability to keep up with demand.
3. Amazon is failing to keep up with competitors' levels of employee productivity.
4. Amazon managers are attempting to make conditions better for workers, but these plans are not being implemented correctly.
5. Amazon employees are on the verge of forming a union, which is making negotiations with management more difficult.
6. Amazon faces difficulty offering better working conditions for its fulfillment center workforce because it loses money on its e-commerce operations, but those working conditions are resulting in critically low employee motivation.

QUESTION 2

1. Which of the following quotes from the case is directly related to equity theory?
2. "Another worker found these incentives insulting, saying that 'around this time of year the managers, if their targets are met or exceeded, they get a bonus.'"
3. "The company is so dedicated to its productivity goals that workers reportedly don't speak to one another during their shifts, saying that managers strongly discourage any kind of camaraderie."
4. "The company has consistently received award-winning customer satisfaction ratings."
5. "There's also a custom of publicly shaming employees who steal from the company on flat-screen TVs and bulletin boards around the warehouses."
6. "Said a current employee, 'They're walking a fine line in the communityeverybody knows someone who's worked there, and no one says it's a good place to work.'"

QUESTION 3

1. Each of the following items that might motivate Amazonemployeesexceptforone represents a "motivating" factor according to motivation-hygiene theory. Which of the following isnota motivating factor?
2. the ability to take regular bathroom breaks
3. pride in being part of a well-known and successful company like Amazon
4. camaraderie with fellow fulfillment center workers
5. the simple pleasure that comes with successfully doing everything asked of them each day
6. satisfaction in playing a role in making sure customers receive their orders on time

QUESTION 4

1. Which of the following is a reason why Amazon workers haven't successfully unionized?
2. Past efforts to unionize failed because of poor planning and leadership.
3. Amazon workers are afraid to do so, because of potential retaliation from management.
4. Other large retailers don't have unions, discouraging Amazon employees from attempting to do the same.
5. Amazon employees are motivated enough by their salaries and perks that they don't feel the need to ask for more.
6. Amazon employees are concerned with jeopardizing their good relationship with management.

QUESTION 5

1. Which of the following is a root cause of the problem identified in the case?
2. Amazon fulfillment centers have very little turnover.
3. Amazon management are aware there are often few competing jobs in locations where they open fulfillment centers, so there's little pressure to offer better salaries and perks.
4. Amazon employees are demanding so much that the company has no choice but to give in to those demands.
5. Amazon's new minimum wage resulted in large pay increases that are bankrupting the company.
6. Amazon employees are unaware that they are being treated badly.