Exclusive: Amazon office workers in New York requested to donate time over to Fresh delivery process during firm’s busiest time

Corporate employees of Amazon were asked on Monday to volunteer their time to the company’s warehouses to assist with grocery delivery as it heads into its annual discount spree known as Prime Day.

In a Slack message reviewed by the Guardian that went to thousands of white-collar workers in the New York City area from engineers to marketers, an Amazon area manager called for corporate “volunteers to help us out with Prime Day to deliver to customers on our biggest days yet”. It is not clear how many took up the offer.

  • Bosht@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    6 days ago

    I remember when, on heavy days and holidays, you’d get bonuses. Fuck Amazon

  • Tire@lemmy.ml
    17·
    6 days ago

    Does anyone actually care about Prime Day? Isn’t it a bunch of cheap crap that’s marked up then “down”?

    • j0ester@lemmy.world
      3·
      6 days ago

      4K 34-inch OLED Alienware monitor for $550 on Prime Day. Originally $1100. Only thing I care for.

    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      6 days ago

      They do that to a degree but its uaully still discounted, just not as much as you think. I work in a store that price matches amazon and we had to resticker 20 times as many products as on a normal day.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
    17·
    6 days ago

    I would never volunteer one unpaid minute for any employer. I don’t see them volunteering any money because your personal life is going through a rough patch.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    35·
    7 days ago

    One of the core rule of business is that you don’t sell what you do not have. Because that is basivally the definition of fraud (at least one of them).

    If you don’t have the manpower to deliver “Prime Day”, don’t offer “Prime Day”, as simple as that.

  • Ikarius@lemmy.world
    14·
    6 days ago

    “No, no, they’re not slaves. They’re highly skilled workers with short-term contracts. And they even get food.”. This is how I see it.

    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
      12·
      6 days ago

      Because we are in the smallest minority of people that care enough to change our shopping habits or willingly pay more for something to avoid Amazon.

      I know literally nobody in real life that shares my views and most will think I’m a weirdo for being so vocal about avoiding certain companies, taking part in boycotts, or protesting.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
      22·
      6 days ago

      I’d love to boycott Amazon, but we rely on them for food deliveries. Instead, I like to order things individually throughout the day. I don’t wait and collect orders, and send them at once, I send them as I think of them. That way each order is billed separately, making each order as expensive as possible, wasting just a bit of Bezos’ profit, and making sure his employees are working and getting paid.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
          11·
          5 days ago

          The dumbest shit is thinking that everyone has the same access to food as you do. Not everybody has a grocery store nearby, or a way to get to it.

          • MellowYellow13@lemmy.world
            11·
            5 days ago

            And relying on Amazon food delivery is still the worst and dumbest shit you could ever do. You’re literally ordering individual food items throughout the day from them, what is wrong with you lmao. Furthermore you are enriching Amazon not the opposite like you tried to claim.

            • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
              1·
              5 days ago

              You don’t know what you are talking about. The selection is far better than the little grocery that’s near me, and the prices are far lower. In addition, it gets delivered directly to my house, they even bring the order in and leave it in the kitchen, so I don’t have to carry it home.

              And who said I’m making individual orders throughout the day? Is that how you buy groceries? Whenever you need an individual item, you run to the grocery store for it? THAT’S the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. I do what most people do, and make a list of things I need, and when it gets long enough, or reaches my budget, I place the order. I do often order non-food things individually from Amazon, just to make them pay extra for shipping. I get free shipping, so that comes out of Bezos’ pocket.

              As for making Amazon richer? Yeah, I get it, but I’m not ready to go out and hunt down my own food on a daily basis - in one of the biggest cities on the planet. I have to actually BUY my groceries, and almost every option is enriching some massive evil corporation. But that’s life, my family has to eat. Basic survival before activism.

              Better selection, lower prices, convenient delivery - so tell me again why this the dumbest shit you’ve ever heard of? Or are you just running your mouth without a clue of what you’re talking about?

  • chunes@lemmy.world
    20·
    7 days ago

    Corporate people should spend some time periodically in the trenches anyway. Otherwise, they’re totally clueless about how everything works.

      • LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        7·
        7 days ago

        It’s business hours Tue-Fri. Sounds like the volunteer isn’t for unpaid work, but for volunteering to do this instead of their normal duties for the week.

        Tho I’m sure they’ll get dinged on their performance review if their regular work output reduces, so I’m guessing they will end up needing to put on unpaid hours to compensate.