[bglbrg]

I worked in Amazon warehouses for two summers during college, doing the sorts of tasks described here. The first year there was no A/C. Actually, it wasn't so terrible. The next year there was central air, but by then there was quite a bit more structure. I was on a 10h overnight shift four days a week. There were traffic lights hanging from the ceilings; if the light was green, you'd go home at 6am. If the light was yellow, you could opt to work overtime for an hour. Red light = mandatory overtime.

It was fairly unpleasant, but I was only there 4 months at a time, and for a 19 y/o the pay was better than other things.

There were indeed pretty stringent rules about keeping up a rate of work. I felt lucky that lifting books at standing height and walking constantly didn't cause the fatigue that using a tape gun for 10 hours might. I don't recall getting demerits but I remember the system (this was 10+ years ago).

When I first scanned the report I thought it seemed overblown. However, the workers interviewed describe a lack of human connection in the face of difficulties. When I did this work, there were expectations, but there were also plenty of pleasant, supportive managers around. I never had any problems doing my work, but I would have imagined more interest and understanding of a team leader if someone did.

This was long, long ago in the history of Amazon. Given their volume today, I can't say I'm surprised at the numbers-focused attitude. It's very disappointing to hear.