When I saw the term "Amazon FC" in a headline recently, my first thought was: "Oh God, Bezos just purchased and renamed the Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer franchise (think Toronto FC, LA FC, NYC FC). What could be more absurd than that?
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| photo: Scott Lewis/Flickr | |
Well, maybe this TechCrunch headline: "What is this weird Twitter army of Amazon drones cheerfully defending warehouse work?" And this lede: "Here is a strange little online community to puzzle at. Amazon has developed an unnerving, Stepford-like presence on Twitter in the form of several accounts of definitely real on-the-floor workers who regurgitate talking points and assure the world that all is right in the company's infamously punishing warehouse jobs."
As Labor Day Weekend approached, I became more than a little addicted to the 14 or so Amazon FC Ambassador Twitter accounts, which launched a couple of weeks ago and are written by non-bot fulfillment center workers (though not, strictly speaking, "on the floor" now since they work full-time on social media duties) with buoyant attitudes regarding their jobs and employer.
TechCrunch pointed out that Amazon FC Ambassadors also share strikingly similar bio structures on their accounts: "(Job titles) @(warehouse shorthand location). (Duration) Amazonian. (2- or 3-item list of things they like.)"
I've been following @AmazonFCPhil ("Stower and ambassador @ BFI4. 2 year Amazonian. Photography, running and cycling. Kent, WA."). He seems cheerful enough, with a helpful, Alexa-like tone that only occasionally wavers into "WE ARE BEING TREATED WELL!" hostage video phrasing territory. He's not a big fan of punctuation, but, hey, it's the Twitterverse after all. A Phil sampling:
"Hello! I work at an Amazon warehouse in WA and I can assure you that they are treating me well! I have great benefits, like the people I work with and can go to the bathroom when needed"
"Hello! Cant comment on others situation but in my facility in WA, I am treated well -- My safety/well being are a top priority for my managers. The building is clean and I have great benefits including full medical insurance from day 1, 401K, stock and more"
"Hello! As learning ambassadors, we arent paid xtra for our social media role. We were offered the role and we accepted. It gives us a voice to express our own experiences. Eventually, we'll roll off and other ambs will replace us with a fresh view on their own experiences"
Ambs...
An Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch that FC ambassadors "are employees who have experience working in our fulfillment centers. It's important that we do a good job of educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that along with the fulfillment center tours we provide."
Yahoo Finance's Krystal Hu tweeted: "Believe it or not, Amazon workers are doing this 'voluntarily'. Workers who choose to be 'ambassadors' don't get extra pay--they usually get a day off, an Amazon gift card and some time away from packing boxes. A former ambassador describes it as 'the kiss asses of the dept' to me."
In an update, Hu noted: "Clarification: Amazon says FC ambassadors who tweet are different from the warehouse ambassadors my previous tweet refers to. Amazon now has 14 FC ambassadors, who have switched from warehouse work to this full-time role to do social media for Amazon while getting the same pay."
I don't want to be cynical, but this Amazon FC Ambassador hyper-enthusiasm ("yes we are totally noraml and not bots and we are totally happy working for an amazing company.") is creepy. Not for a second did I think those words came from "the floor."
I spent much of the first half of my life working jobs not unlike those warehouse gigs--at a marble mill, in supermarkets, on delivery trucks. I was born and bred to be a laborer. I can't outgrow or outrun that genetic code. Don't want to. I've seen my ancestors, like ghosts, in grainy old Vermont marble mill and quarry photos with their weary expressions and mute accusations--"What are you looking at us for? We've got work to do."
Work is not a cult. It's... work.
In a 1988 Paris Review interview, the late, great poet Philip Levine recalled: "I worked for Cadillac, in their transmission factory, and for Chevrolet. You could recite poems aloud in there. The noise was so stupendous. Some people singing, some people talking to themselves, a lot of communication going on with nothing, no one to hear."
It will come as no surprise that I don't believe a word @AmazonFCPhil and his fellow ambassadors tweet. Work is more complicated than their Twittervangelism proclaims.
Levine observed that Detroit in the late '80s was a city where "nothing grandly heroic is taking place... Nothing epic. Just the small heroics of getting through the day when the day doesn't give a shit, getting through the world with as much dignity as you can pull together from the tiny resources left to you. It's the truly heroic.... They've survived everything America can dish out. No, nothing grandly heroic is happening in Detroit. I guess nothing grandly heroic ever took place there; it was always automobiles, automobiles, hard work, and low pay."
Meet the new boss...
At least Bezos hasn't bought the Seattle Sounders. Happy Labor Day!