Amazon recruits worker ‘truth squad’

Amazon sought out warehouse staffers with a “great sense of humor” to build a squad of Twitter warriors to knock down criticism of its fulfillment centers, a leaked document reveals.

Amazon started recruiting rank-and-file workers for its social-media army in 2018 through an initiative that was known by the code name “Veritas,” the Latin word for truth, according to the document obtained by The Intercept.

The e-commerce colossus gave these fulfillment center “ambassadors” a mandate to “vigilantly refute untruths” about what it’s like to work inside its warehouses, where Amazon has been accused of running workers ragged, the 10-page memo shows.

The document outlines the criteria Amazon used to select model warehouse staffers for what was then a pilot program. The candidates needed a clean HR record, a strong performance background, a “great sense of humor” and an enthusiasm for “rebutting our critics in a polite, blunt way.”

“These associates will speak in the first person about their own experiences working in Amazon [fulfillment centers] and set the record straight — leaving no lie unchallenged and showing that people who actually know what it’s like to work in our FCs love their jobs,” the document says.

While Amazon wanted the workers to speak for themselves, the memo shows the company wanted a standardized format for their Twitter handles and user names.

Asked about the document, spokesperson Rachael Lighty said the company’s online ambassadors “choose to share their personal experience” about fulfillment center work.