Weighing the Amazon effect
Will huge warehouse deliver ‘middle-class’ jobs?
Do you have what it takes to get — and keep — a job as a “warehouse associate” with Amazon?
Clearing the initial bar to gain bottom-rung employment with the e-commerce giant isn’t that high. You have to be a high school graduate 18 or older.
But it takes more than that. You must be able to handle packages of up to 49 pounds. You must be willing to move large quantities of merchandise for a 10- to 12-hour day. You may be asked to “stow” or “pick” from racks up to 45 feet high — taller than a four-storey building. You will often have to push, pull, squat and bend. Your productivity will be constantly monitored.
The starting pay? $14.40 an hour — Ontario minimum wage is $14 — plus 50 cents more an hour for the night shift, according to a job ad for an Amazon “fulfilment centre” in Brampton.
“Working at Amazon has to have been one of the worst experiences of my life,” wrote one Brampton warehouse worker on the workplace website Glassdoor, where workers post anonymous reviews. “If I could describe working at Amazon in one word, it would be fear. Fear of going to the bathroom, fear of walking around on your break, fear of doing your job even. The amount of pressure and strain your body will take for standing 10 hours straight everyday will be the first reason as to why anyone would leave ... Please be warned that working at Amazon is not for everyone and that they will chew you up and spit you out because they know how expendable you are.”
The groundbreaking ceremony for Ottawa’s one-million-squarefoot Amazon fulfilment centre in Carlsbad Springs is scheduled to be held today. The warehouse will create more than 600 full-time jobs, according to Amazon spokeswoman Alyssa Tran, who added the jobs will provide competitive wages and comprehensive benefits “starting on Day 1.”
The company also provides a group RRSP, offers performancebased bonuses and pays up to 95 per cent tuition for workers studying for “in-demand” jobs in areas such as accounting, IT and paramedic services.
The company will be looking not only for warehouse workers, but also for operations managers and workers for information technology roles, said Tran.