Amazon’s associate safety crisis is a direct result of Amazon’s punitive management practices that use constant surveillance and threat of termination to push associates to the breaking point; the company’s use of retaliation and union busting that prevents associates from advocating for safer conditions; and the high-turnover model that prioritizes profit over safety, even during natural disasters and extreme weather.
Below are some examples of these punitive management practices.
Adapt
Amazon calls it the Associate Development And Performance Tool. Associates describe it as “what gives associates anxiety and panic attacks because they think they may not meet their Rate”
How it works:
Amazon associates who are processing packages at the expected speed get cards with two scores: 1) ADAPT and 2) Goal.
‘ADAPT’ is the benchmark Rate, or the minimum Rate, associates have to meet when processing orders. ‘Goal’ is typically a rate above that. After 6 weeks, associates are expected to meet ‘Goal’ or better. The lowest 3% (or 5%, or 10%, depending on the facility) of associates who do not make their Rate get written up. Even if associates are injured or require accommodations, they are expected to make the same Rate. As soon as people miss their Rate benchmarks, they are given an ADAPT and are on the chopping block where the smallest mishap can lead to termination.
DPMO
Defects Per Million Opportunities, also known as Quality Errors, or “An arbitrary excuse managers use to pick on associates”
Human errors that associates may make. Not necessarily cause for writeup, used more as a way to keep people on their toes. Intentionally obscure in name because anything can be considered DPMO. For example, if an associate scans the wrong item, they get flagged for DPMO and can get a verbal warning.
Rate
Productivity quota, or speed at which each associate is expected to process packages in a given timeframe
If an associate doesn’t process packages at the expected speed, they are at risk of getting a write up – potentially resulting in termination.
“Everyone knows an associate who gets terminated after just one write up.” – Amazon associate
TAKT
Borrowed from the German word Taktzeit, meaning ‘cycle time’
Time it takes for an associate to perform a single task in their job (e.g., 30 seconds to pick one item). It is well known that if an associate doesn’t meet their TAKT time, they will not make Rate, which can result in a write-up.
“For the day, you are expected to meet a rate of XX packages per shift and your TAKT time has to be under 30 seconds. If you’re not keeping up, you risk getting a write up or a coaching.” – Amazon associate
TOT or Idle Time
Time Off Task, or “A way to surveil associates’ every move”
Measured by the time between subsequent scans, used to determine how much time an associate spends away from their station or not actively doing their job. Now being called “idle time” in some facilities, or Time Logged Incident (TLI). For example, if an associate needs to go to the bathroom and they spend 2 minutes walking to the bathroom, 5 minutes in the bathroom, and 2 minutes walking back to their station, they get 9 minutes logged as TOT. In facilities the size of football fields, associates may take longer to get to and from the bathroom. In some facilities, associates may get a verbal warning if they are away from their station longer than 6 minutes in a given shift.
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