The e-commerce sector is booming and along with it the competition is getting more and more aggressive. Ruthless competition demands a great deal of effort and the need for a more persistent attitude towards work increases. Amazon has for long been seen as a giant in the sector and a firm which is undergoing constant expansion at a quick pace. But it turns out that this quick-paced surge upwards is creating a work culture which is taking a toll on the employees. Source: Woculus

The "Amabots"

The nature of the work is evident from the term that good Amazonians are described by — Amabots. It is a term which means you become one with the system. We would say that this gives validation to the notion that people have to work like machines at Amazon. Doesn't it?

A current employee, Diana Vaccari, admits that once she did not sleep for four days straight as she had to sell gift cards to other companies. She even paid a freelancer from her own pocket. She said, "These businesses were my babies, and I did whatever I could to make them successful."

Source: Fresher India

Serious effects on health

Another example of Amazon's dark side is the example of an employee whose fiance used to come at the campus at ten in the night and call her in order to persuade her to go home. While on holiday in Florida she spent most of her time at Starbucks, trying to get work done. This proved to be a cause for her resulting ulcer.

One former employee says that Amazon is a place, "Where overachievers go to feel back about themselves."

Most employees didn't consider how early she came and sent negative feedback about her leaving early. "I can't stand here and defend you if your peers are saying you're not doing your work," said her boss later. She left the company after a little more than a year.

While this does go well for the Bezos model of a meritocracy where people compete and only the best survive, it opens doors for bitter rivalries, creating an uncomfortable environment to work in.

Source: Employment Rights Ireland