Amazon delivers employee abuse

Last week, a United Kingdom article reported that an undercover reporter who worked at Amazon for less than a month encountered employees who were urinating in bottles because they could not get to bathrooms fast enough due to huge work facilities and extremely short breaks. Employees were also fearful of missing productivity targets, which could result in punishment.

Amazon has been sued as working conditions at the retail giant have been called into question. This should not happen given how much money Amazon makes.

Amazon is approaching $200 billion in annual sales and revenue, according to Marketwatch.com. The company has also posted a profit in 11 straight quarters. 

Amazon has become America’s retailer. With just one click customers can get products the same day, or even within the hour.

With Amazon’s financial success, it is assumed it would be a desirable place to work because they have the money to pay and sustain a large amount of workers. In reality, its ethic is the exact opposite. 

Amazon laid off 850 employees in Seattle after pushing to unionize in 2001, and the departments in which those employees worked were relocated to India, North Dakota, and West Virginia to take advantage of lower wages, according to The Independent. Amazon not only creates hostile work environments, it also reaps profit through financial exploitation of their employees. 

Amazon will also directly benefit from President Trump’s new tax plan, so they will be paying less taxes than they ever have before.

 It is a shame that Amazon continues to be in the news for the wrong reasons. Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and CEO, is currently the richest person in the world at $127 billion, according to forbes.com.

One would think with so much money that the company would spend money to keep employees happy, but just like other big businesses, it tries to find ways to cut costs and maximize profit. When one works for the richest man alive and a company that continues to set new heights in revenue, this should not be the case.

 Amazon needs to stop mistreating their workers and a asking for handouts.

Sometime this year Amazon will unveil the location of its second headquarter. Amazon was asking for proposals from cities with its outlined criteria which included cities with a population of over one million people, and sufficient public transportation as some key factors. Some cities were offering civic control, free land and no city tax.

This is ridiculous for a company of Amazon’s status, they can afford to buy any land and build their own headquarters wherever they please. As Amazon keeps climbing to bigger and more profitable heights, it needs to end these cost-cutting moves and take their working conditions seriously. It has the money and resources to support its employees and it is past time to do so. 

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