Amazon Fulfillment Memes and Their Underlying Realities:
Memes provide a light-hearted insight into or analysis of a topic. Having gotten access to the Amazon Fulfillment worker meme page, I was not surprised to see many of the issues read about in the news reflected in the light hearted memes that Amazon fulfillment workers were posting. This is particularly insightful as it further highlights the mistreatment of Amazon fulfillment workers represented in the media. The set of chosen memes highlight different abuses of power from the Amazon side and general sentiment of overwork read about in Amazon fulfillment.
Some memes highlighting the disconnect between Corporate Amazon and Amazon Fulfillment:
Disconnect between Management and Manual Work Laborers
Memes Reveal similar themes of overwork with ‘Flex’/part time workers similar to how Uber and Lyft downplay the legal status of their ‘contract workers’.
Flex workers are workers who can use their own car to make Amazon deliveries (kind of like an Uber driver). They get less privileges than normal employees as we see in contract work with Uber and Lyft.
Amazon workers who are ‘Flex’ clearly do not receive many of the benefits associated with Amazon fulfillment.
More memes highlighting theme of overwork and issues with capitalism in general
The average American walks 3000-4000 steps a day (1-2 mi)
What these memes demonstrate is the human toll that working in Amazon fulfillment can take on an individual. It is easy to talk about numbers and workers in general, but seeing the memes they post directly related to their personal experiences in the division humanizes the issue and themes of worker abuse in Amazon fulfillment. Moreover, the level of interaction and support for the popular memes highlights how widespread these sentiments are within the Amazon fulfillment network, even if they are not outright calling it out.
Interview with 30-year-old product manager:
I conducted an interview with a 30-year product manager for the Alexa Information Entertainment team. The interviewee worked for a startup after college that was acquired by Amazon. The broader goal of the entire Alexa department is simply to make Alexa answer questions as efficiently and effectively as possible. Within the Alexa team, there are 3 subcomponents. The three teams within the Alexa department are the international team, who ensure Alexa is capable of answering questions around the world, the technology team, who are responsible for making the technology behind Alexa work, and finally there in the Knowledge engineering and engagement team, who focus on customer engagement with Alexa. Within the Knowledge engineering and engagement team, there are six groups that report to one head of the department. The subject of my interview was the manager for one of these groups. Her group (The Alexa Information Entertainment team) focuses on refining Alexa’s responses to inquiries regarding movies, TV shows, books, music, celebrities, and more. There are five people that report directly to the product manager, and one of these five has a team of three reporting to them, so in total, the interviewee has nine people working under her. She noted the team is intending to grow and she says by the start of 2022, there should be eleven people on her team.
When asked about the culture of Amazon, the interviewee stated that the company revolves around leadership principles, specifically the principle of customer obsession. Everything at Amazon revolves around the customer experience and tasks are prioritized by the direct effect they have on the customer. While innovating, Amazon always works backward from the customer’s wants and needs to best find solutions to problems and innovative new ideas. Another principle that drives the company is “Bias for Action”. Amazon highly values people who can move, think, and act quickly. The interviewee states, “we want people who will take fast action rather than people who talk about taking action.” Further, the final principle that the interviewee mentioned as an important driving force of the company is the insistence on having the highest standards. This principle holds every employee responsible for completing their work to the best of their ability.
In a company so large, it is important to conduct regular performance evaluations in order to ensure that employees are up to date on tasks and are pushing themselves in their professional endeavors. The subject of my interview states that she conducts annual reviews for all members of her team. These reviews are where employees are rated on how they perform. There are three categories in which employees are placed, and within each category, employees can be classified as “low-level” or “high-level”. The three categories are Exceeded, Achieved, and Needs Improvement. The subject of the interview stated that total compensation for the following periods can rely heavily on these performance reviews. Each employee received a salary, but they also receive compensation in other forms such as stock options. These stock options can take up to two years to vest.
When asked about Jeff Bezos, the subject of my interview did not have many opinions. She noted that he technically is no longer the CEO of the company, but did add that she believes that he has had an amazing vision for the company since its inception. She stated that Bezos’s emphasis on the customer is really important and she thinks has been one of the keys to Amazon’s continued success. As for work-life balance, the interviewee stated her work life and personal life were somewhat intertwined because her husband also works for Amazon. Most of her friends in Santa Barbara she met through work as well. She said that she really enjoys working at Amazon, but she could envision leaving the company in the near future, primarily because she is interested in pursuing something other interests.
Interview with a Director of Engineering at Amazon:
A director of engineering at Amazon’s AWS (Amazon Web Services), “Tim” is a very busy employee, juggling big tasks among numerous meetings every day. Although he has a very short tenure at Amazon, he has worked in another company for more than a decade, rising up the ranks. He starts his day as early as 5am to be able to stay on top of his work. Apart from sending his kids to school and breaks for food, Tim makes sure his time is worth the while for Amazon. Shifting back and forth from working at home versus the office daily, he still manages to ensure a happy and healthy work environment by incentivizing all of his coworkers to come in every Thursday for an evening happy hour. While there are limitless smiles to be seen, Tim breaks down the reality of working so high up on the corporate ladder at Amazon.
I started off my questioning with a generic culture question. Tim gave a close comparison between Amazon and his former company. While his former company was more settled in, in terms of their technology, Amazon is still vastly changing, so there are constantly new things to be built. That said, Tim expressed that working at Amazon has been the toughest company he has worked at in terms of the workload. Although he says the people around him make it truly worthwhile. All of the individuals he has worked with have always been enthusiastic. He claims that the whole organization really embodies the phrase “work hard, play hard.”
I then asked him about his opinions about Jeff Bezos. While he is not CEO anymore, he is still the majority stockholder of Amazon stock. Tim seemed very disinterested in this question. He believed it wasn’t as much about working for Jeff Bezos as working on a service he thought would greatly benefit the world. While Jeff Bezos might not be the most reputable person, he definitely is not the worst celebrity.
With the most stigma towards Amazon being the way they treat their fulfillment workers, I interrogated Tim on this fact. He had already heard the stories and became a bit defensive of Amazon. Tim claimed that these stories were really just a handful of the tens of thousand fulfillment workers in the world. He expressed true sorrow for those, but also went on to say that he was confident that Amazon is working on making the workplace better for the warehouse workers. He said the stories he heard definitely went against his own beliefs, which is why he tries his best to make sure his teams are enjoying their time at Amazon. He even referred me to some of his underlings, who very quickly backed up his statement.
I was amazed at how much impact that Tim was able to have on the culture of his team. It seems like the corporate side of Amazon is a much different story than the fulfillment. Although with AWS being very new and needing much more development, these engineers will continue to face heavy workloads.
Interview with Junior Software Engineer at Amazon:
As a junior employee in Software Development at Amazon, my interviewee “John” named the 12 leadership principles as the most influential part of corporate Amazon culture. Many years ago, Jeff Bezos wrote out what he thought was the best philosophy of behavior, which has now become not just an expectation, but a mandate. While they are not enforced by any leadership principle police, approximately 30 hours of training videos on the topic are required of each employee on-boarding to a corporate role.
John explained that they are not just inspirational words on the company website, they are commonly referred to in all branches of the firm. They are used so commonly because of the numerous points in a day when you must make arbitrary decisions. Instead of taking them to your assigned mentor or superior, you can refer to the principles to make your decision. According to John’s experience, and the experience of the people in his team of about 30, employees find this most useful when someone asks you why you made your decision, and you are able to refer back to a written set of rules that you used to inform and justify your actions. Below is the exact wording taken from the Amazon jobs website portal, which lists out the 16 leadership principles in full as of November 29, 2021:
Customer Obsession
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”
Invent and Simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
Are Right, A Lot
Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
Learn and Be Curious
Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.
Hire and Develop the Best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.
Insist on the Highest Standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Think Big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
Bias for Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
Earn Trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.
Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
Deliver Results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.
Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer
Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.
Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility
We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.
John highlights Bias for Action as the most influential principle for decision making. The description reads: “Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.” The idea of reversible decisions is what is most notable here. Bezos invented what he calls one-door and two-door decisions, two-door being the reversible kind. In a shareholder letter, Bezos wrote that one-door decisions are consequential, and must be made methodically and with great deliberation because once you walk through the door, you can never get back to where you were before. Most decisions are not like that, he writes. Most of the time, if you make a suboptimal decision you can reopen the door and go back through, or you can make a bad decision with consequences that do not last that long. Bezos instated this philosophy to guide his corporate workers to take risks, be inventive, and allow them to make mistakes as a laborer in pursuit of Amazon’s success. But what of his retail and fulfillment workers? Is this the same ethos Bezos is instilling in the other side of the firm?
I asked my interviewee John if he knew about the fulfillment side of Amazon, and he said it could not be more separated or different from corporate Amazon. On the corporate side, there is little to no surveillance of workers, meaning there is almost no data being collected on their hours, movements, or work products. Workers performance is focused on their work product’s ability to satisfy the people on their team. John described a culture where if you were sick, or your kid had something, or you had to go pick up your dry cleaning, you had the freedom to do that.
Now comparing that to the retail side, where workers are constantly surveilled by machines, and the timing of their movements are being calculated to produce statistics about their work that determines if they keep their job, the difference is quite blunt. Bezos created a retail and fulfillment culture where mistakes are not allowed, speed is everything, and no personal contemplation should go into the completion of shipping and handling work, which is to be done in a precise way. This is the ethos that Bezos used to bring the fulfillment business to its present success, and it is a philosophy that makes Amazon radically productive, orderly, precise, reliable, and fast. However, from the media and public discourse, we are aware that the surveillance culture also rids workers of their autonomy, and strips away the human aspects of work. The buzz surrounding poor conditions for Amazon workers stems from the lack of freedom to create a work-life balance, the discouragement of human reasoning and creativity. Not to mention labor rights violations, and the US minimum wage not being high enough for them to have the freedom to create a life that reflects how hard they work. While Amazon engineers and product managers rave about the firm and its culture, fulfillment workers remain the overworked backbone that holds the groundbreaking success of Amazon retail together.
Sources:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000119312516530910/d168744dex991.htm
