A $$Slap in the Face$$ for Amazon$$s Stressed$-$Out Warehouse Workers

Amazon$$s Seattle Warehouse

Amazon has sought to improve the morale of its stressed$-$out warehouse workers and reduce injuries by telling them to

meditate in the middle of the workday.

A warehouse employee at the Seattle$-$based e$-$tailing giant founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos leaked a screenshot of a

meditation and wellness guide from the company that encourages workers to $$close your eyes and think about something

that makes you happy.$$

The screenshot $$ which also shows a timer at the top right corner of the screen, saying $$Repeat until timer ends$$ and

showing $10$ seconds left $$ was leaked by a worker at one of the company$$s warehouses, which are known as $$fulfilment

centres$.$

$$I mean it honestly felt like a slap in the face,$$ the employee said. $$It$$s the sort of disconnected corporate platitude that is

so obviously out of touch with reality.$$

Amazon in recent years has come under fire from worker advocates for conditions at warehouses, where some

employees have reported that they were forced to urinate in bottles and forgo bathroom breaks because of the breakneck

pace and the demands of the job.

The screenshot shows a guide to a practice called $$savouring$,$ which is part of a wellness and meditation regimen that

Amazon initially rolled out in $2021$ titled $$Working Well,$$ which was designed to cut down on workplace injuries by

improving employees$$ state of mind.

$$In addition to the scheduled breaks throughout a shift, employees can take short breaks at any time to use the restroom,

grab water or a snack, step away from their screen, or speak to their coworkers, manager, HR$,$ or others,$$ an Amazon

spokesperson said.

The program features $$physical and mental activities, wellness exercises, and healthy eating support$$ which are

$$scientifically proven to help them recharge and reenergize.$$

An Amazon spokesperson said that $$AmaZen$$ was a pilot program launched in $2021.$ The company has since halted

$$AmaZen$$ doing away with the $$ZenBooths$$ that were officially known as $$mindful practice rooms.$$

Warehouse workers continue to receive wellness messages at their workstations and are urged to take breaks. $$Working

Well$$ includes a special meditation and mindfulness$-$based section, which the company said, $$guides employees through

mindfulness practices in individual interactive kiosks at buildings.$$

Amazon said employees also receive hourly prompts at their workstations $$guiding them through a series of scientifically

proven physical and mental activities to help recharge and reenergize, and ultimately reduce the risk of injury.$$

Injury rates at Amazon have typically been higher compared to its peers in the industry, which critics and labour safety

experts blame on the company$$s fast$-$paced warehouses that track productivity and allow customers to get their packages

quickly.

Last year, a coalition of labour unions released a report that found that Amazon$$s injury rate was $70\%$ higher in $2022$

compared to non$-$Amazon warehouses. The report, which was compiled by the Strategic Organizing Center and

examines data Amazon submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the company$$s injury rate

was $6\mathrm{.}9\%$ in $2022,$ compared to $7\mathrm{.}9\%$ the year before. In $2020,$ that number was $6\mathrm{.}6\%.$

Amazon released a report in March $2024$ saying that its $$recordable incident rate$$ which it described as any workrelated injury that requires more than basic first aid treatment $$ improved in $2023$ by $8\%$ compared to the year before

and $30\%$ over the past four years. Furthermore, the company said its $$lost time incident rate$$ serious work$-$related

injury that requires someone to take time away from work $$ improved last year by $16\%$ compared to $2022$ and $60\%$ over

the past four years.

The employee who leaked the video said the meditation guide was out of place because $$the lower and middle classes

are seeing our financial situations grow tighter and tighter $...$ while the people at the heads of these corporations continue

to build their portfolios and disproportionate wealth.$$

$$We$$re getting bled dry as a people, and then I get a pop up at my menial labour job to $$close my eyes and think of

something happy?$$ I$$ll think of eating the rich then, thanks,$$ the employee said.

Amazon$$s DuPont Warehouse and Spokane Warehouse

Meanwhile, to the south of Amazon$$s Seattle warehouse is the company$$s DuPont warehouse where Ellie Zingg, an

Amazon employee, noticed that a jug of mold remover was leaking. While sitting in the DuPont warehouse, awaiting

Amazon workers who would unpack and send the product back out of the facility, chemicals in the mold remover were

eating through a plastic container. Zingg, who had less than an hour left in her shift at the DuPont facility, removed the

leaking produ Question $2(25$ Marks$)$ Based on the information presented in the case study, discuss the extent to which Amazon$$s employee wellness programme is successful.