Amazon's high worker turnover
Injuries, burnout, automated HR policies, high productivity rates all contribute to Amazon's high employee turnover
A leaked memo from mid-2021 revealed that Amazon executives expressed concerns over Amazon running out of workers in the US by 2024. For years, workers and labor groups have criticized this issue, as Amazon reported a 150 percent employee turnover in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic began, citing high injury rates, unfair and automated HR policies, and high productivity quotas as parts of Amazon’s business model that relies on a constant cycle of churning in and out new workers.
Patrick O’Rourke worked as a picker at an Amazon warehouse in Sparrows Point, Maryland from September 2020 until July 2021.
During a work shift in May 2021, one of O’Rourke’s ankles started badly hurting. He continued working through the shift, hoping it would go away over his next two days off of work.
It didn’t.
His next shift, he told his manager and was sent to Amazon’s onsite medical clinic where he was given ice, an ankle wrap, small packs of Icy Hot and sent back to work.
The injury continued getting worse, and his other ankle became injured as well.
“Feeling it in both ankles, it got really hard to walk through the warehouse and do my job. Because I was in so much pain, I had to use my vacation and paid time off days,” said O’Rourke.
Patrick O'Rourke: working at Amazon shouldn't hurt - YouTube
By July 2021, still injured, O’Rourke filed for a leave of absence and applied for workers’ compensation, which he was denied, but did receive short term disability benefits until those ran out and he was denied long-term disability.
His orthopedist in physical therapy put him in a medical boot for two months and determined walking along Amazon’s hard concrete floors and the continuous motions he was doing as part of the job is what caused the injuries. He tried to get a work accommodation that would permit him to take breaks to sit for an hour or two during his shifts, but he was never informed the accommodations were accepted and he was told to return to work after 3 weeks without any accommodations. He also said an Amazon HR representative did call him to offer a different position, but within 24 hours another rep negated that offer.
O’Rourke wound up just quitting rather than hope fighting for accommodations and benefits would resolve the issue without worsening the injury.
“If I stayed, it would have made matters worse,” added O’Rourke. “The public just needs to be aware of what goes on in these warehouses. I know I’m not the only one who has gotten hurt there.”