Introducing: Megacorp

Megacorp is a series by Jake Hanrahan that exposes some of the world's most unethical corporations. First up, we’re investigating Amazon.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast about Amazon, a company that's made
its founder Jeff Bezos the richest man on Earth, whilst
also being voted one of the worst places to work.
Let's look at how they treat warehouse workers, the people
most vital to keeping Amazon stock moving forward. On average,
Amazon warehouse workers are paid around seventeen dollars an hour

(00:24):
in the US and around fourteen pounds an hour in
the UK. For these wages, employees will often work ten
to twelve hour shifts, constantly on their feet, where they're
expected to hit never ending targets. A package must be
dealt with every thirty seconds. If you're working as a picker,
you're expected to process three hundred items per hour. You've

(00:45):
given nine seconds to take each item from a robot
that delivers shelf upon shelf of Amazon packages. Staff are
constantly filmed in the warehouse as they work, and their
toilet breakes are even time. Workers get two fifteen minute breaks,
much of which can be taken up by just walking
to the toilet through the first expanse of the warehouse.

(01:06):
All over the world, workers have voiced anger at these
ridiculous working conditions. Yet, as the Amazon pyramid climbs problems continue.
Amazon has been spying on customers through various different home
security platforms. They've also been union busting, and the court
recently has ruled that their tactics were actually illegal. They

(01:27):
don't want their workers to organize. If that wasn't bad enough,
they've done deals with the intelligence agencies in the US
and the UK, specifically the CIA and m I six.
Amazon is not the people friendly company it claims to be.
I'm Jake Hanrahan. With this new series, I'll be looking

(01:47):
into the many scandals at the heart of Amazon. Listen
to Megacorps on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.