Report: Amazon churns through employees at super-high rate

Amazon worker

An employee packages products at an Amazon distribution center.Amazon

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon was losing 3% of its hourly employees each week, an incredibly high rate that means the e-commerce giant experiences 150% turnover a year, according to a New York Times report.

“That rate, almost double that of the retail and logistics industries, has made some executives worry about running out of workers across America,” the newspaper said, citing previously unreported data and interviews with nearly 200 current and former Amazon employees.

The report comes after Amazon conducted a hiring surge in 2020 that the newspaper said was unparalleled in American corporate history. In just three months during the pandemic, the company hired 350,000 workers — more than the population of St. Louis — with a wage of at least $15 an hour and good benefits, according to the report.

Other findings in the report:

  • Amazon’s strict monitoring of workers has stoked a culture of fear. Employees who work too slowly, or are idle for too long, risk being fired.
  • Workers who had applied for leaves during the pandemic were penalized for missing work, triggering mistaken job-abandonment notices and, in some cases, terminations.
  • Black workers at an Amazon distribution center in New York City, JFK8, were almost 50% more likely to be fired for productivity, misconduct or absenteeism than their white peers, raising concerns over racial inequity.

An Amazon spokeswoman responded to questions about the company’s turnover by saying, “Attrition is only one data point, which when used alone lacks important context,” according to the Times.

Construction is nearing completion on a 3.8-million-square-foot Amazon distribution center in Clay, near Syracuse. The $350 million facility is expected to employ 1,000 people when it opens this fall.

The company told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard it does not expect to have any problems filling all of the jobs, citing, among other things, a minimum starting wage of $15.50 an hour for entry-level positions and good benefits.

CenterState CEO and local community groups have been working with Amazon to recruit workers, especially from the ranks of the underemployed, to apply for jobs at the Clay facility when they become available later this summer.

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Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

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