Amazon's warehouse-worker tracking system
19/10/2019
We all have heard about Amazon, the American multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Currently, Amazon is ranked as one of the Big Four technology companies in the world along with Google, Apple, and Facebook.
Amazon’s demanding culture of worker productivity has been exposed through multiple investigations in the past. Some reports indicate that the company doesn’t just track worker productivity at its warehouses – it has also launched a system that can automatically fire them.
In a single year, from August 2017 through September 2018, Amazon has fired more than 300 workers in Baltimore in one of its facilities by using this system.
Amazon's AI system track uses a metric called time off task. This metric enables the system to record how much time workers pause or take breaks. Production targets are programmed in the AI system so that the AI can decide if employees reach the production targets. If not, it can automatically issue warnings and termination documents.
If a worker receives two final written warnings or a total of six written warnings within 12 months, the system automatically creates a termination paper.
The problem is that it makes possible to dismiss someone without any supervisor's intervention, although Amazon says that a human supervisor can override the system. If someone doesn't meet their production goals, Amazon can provide specific training for them.
Businessmen usually say that it is business. The primary goals are production, profit, and turnover. Entrepreneurs push their company to be profitable and to reach this purpose they need to respect some criteria such as production targets.
Following the announcement, some workers protested saying: “We are not robots. We are human beings. We cannot come into work after only four hours of sleep and be expected to be fully energized and ready to work. That’s impossible”. Employees often prepare hundreds of orders an hour and even skip toilet breaks under threat of being fired for failing to “make rate”.
The dilemma over here is not the use of AI but which criteria are pertinent and how much can an AI impact someone's work. How is the exact equation to know how much an employee should work obtained? Humans are disparate - some people achieve their work slowly but perfectly, others are quick but negligent. Considering that, can we rely on AI?
Some might say that the moral force of this action is genuinely significant. When you implement an interface to fire someone or notifying them that their work is not good enough, you will make the person think that they are not competent enough. From this point, employees will start complaining, and the efficiency will decrease.
In his book, The Truth About Employee Engagement, Patrick Lencioni found that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. When it comes to salespeople, happiness delivers an even broader impact, raising sales by 37%.
I strongly think that what Patrick Lencioni puts forward is right. When an employee is happy, they will devote more energy to their work. Further, if the CEO tries to have contact with their employees, they will try to make the CEO appreciate them. The true benefit of a human workforce is not to use people like objects, but to employ creative humans who can solve problems, and can learn and grow to participate in the company.
Therefore, the company requires something to balance time-efficiency - happiness at work, and production expectation.
To sum up, giving the right to an AI to dismiss people is something that can be considered disrespectful for employees and will bring a fall in production. Besides, instead of having a strict production target they should program a more flexible goal. Amazon has to find something that will leave the employees time to rest but in a way that they will still have a target to fulfill.
Sources :
Mail Online, “Amazon's automated employee-tracking system can FIRE workers based on productivity without ever consulting a human”, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6964333/Amazons-warehouse-worker-tracking-automatically-fire-people.html
The Verge, “Amazon workers in Minnesota walk out in protest over part-time work”, , https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/3/20897119/amazon-workers-walk-out-protest-part-time-work-minnesota
The Guardian, “'We are not robots': Amazon warehouse employees push to unionize”, 1 Jan 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fulfillment-center-warehouse-employees-union-new-york-minnesota
Chavanne A
Hello Alice and thank you for this really interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I am really surprised to read this. I knew that being the e-commerce leader, Amazon needs to work efficiently and that employees have really stressful working conditions. Moreover, this is no news that the company is interested in AI and is currently working on its development. But I was far from imagining that they would use robots to monitor and fire workers. Robots are not new in the working environement but workers used to control them and not the other way around. On the one hand, I wouldn't like to be watched and constantly evaluated by some robot that has the authority to fire me anytime, not taking into consideration my needs. On the other hand, Amazon is in constant need of increased efficiency in order to stay leader on the market.
I would really like to hear your opinion on this.
And do you know if the strike was successful ?
Thank you again.
Estelle M.
Hello Estelle, thank you for your review.
DeleteIn my article, I said that AI could "automatically issue warnings and termination documents". However, the workers can still appeal against this termination documents. By doing so, the documents issue will be studied by Amazon's council, who will make a final decision.
I would say that for a company, the need to increase efficiency is quite common. However, I do not think that putting pressure on their employees is a solution for increasing efficiency. If you want to increase it, I strongly think that you need to balance efficiency and team spirit.
Nevertheless, all companies are unique and are ruled by different rules.
Regarding your last question, a group named "Prime Day" was created to extend their movement. I recommend you to read this article below for more details: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/16/20696154/amazon-prime-day-2019-strike-warehouse-workers-inhumane-.
Alice C.
Hello Alice
ReplyDeleteThank you for your interesting and very well-written article. I’ve also heard about what happens in Amazon warehouses and I was quite shocked. It reminds me a little the movie “Modern Times” with Charlie Chaplin especially the scene where Charlie has to keep the pace of bolting on the production chain. At that time, when you were not able to keep the pace you would be fired excalty like nowadays with the AI being used by Amazon.
Do you think in the future AI will spread more and more like in China with facial recognition?
Have you ever heard about the guy while he was playing a basketball game called “NBA 2k 2014” on his Xbox One received an in-game penalty for having sworn in real life?
The link of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5okb9Vc8SY
Hello Niels,
DeleteFirst, thank you for your review.
I do think that in the future AI will spread more and more, especially in China where cutting-edge technology is quite developed. On another hand, I think that with the growing number of AI used, there will be new regulations and laws to have a durable market.
I never heard anything about this video but thank you, it was quite interesting to see that AI are not use only for business but also video games. I would say that AI is not an immoral thing but the way we will use it is genuinely important and we have to stay focus on what is respectful for everyone in this world.
Hello Alice,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your article it was really interesting and I was rather shocked to learn that Amazon is using AI to monitor its employees to such an extend. It makes me reconsider the vison I had of the brand.
This productivity race seems to only benefit the highest positions and have a really negative impact on the others. I’m also concerned about the company’s ethic when implementing such measures and its apparent lack of consideration for the employees.
I am consequently wondering if the AI system is present in many Amazon factories and if it has been implemented in many countries ? Moreover do you happen to know if there is any legal action that has been taken or a legislation introduced to regulate this system ?
Thank you for your answer,
Zoé G.
Hello Zoé and thank you for your review.
DeleteI do agree with all your concerns. As you probably know, Amazon is a worldwide company implemented in many countries and their politics are sharing in all Amazon's firms. I don't think that any legal action or legislation has been taken since this article because Amazon defended its point of view and decided to not react to this conflict. I recommend you to check this fact on press articles considering that my knowledge is probably not enough to answer this question.