Jordan: No matter what job I have in the future, it will never be as bad as working with Amazon.
Turkel: Maybe that's why Amazon is experimenting with drones, because they work and they don't complain.
This former Amazon worker broke her foot on the job and was told to take ibuprofen and finish her shift.
Jordan: I worked at the Jeffersonville, Indiana fulfillment canter. I was assigned to work in the Pick Department. I was going to be the one with the scanning gun, and walking throughout the warehouse and then grabbing various items out of the bins. So it didn't sound too bad. Within my 10-hour shift, I would end up walking between 12 and 15 miles, which normally isn't a problem, but on the concrete floors, it took a lot of wear and tear on my bones, on my tendons, it was bad.
In the event of a health issue, Amazon instructs workers to notify security before calling emergency services. At one location, more than 180 calls were made to emergency services in just two and a half years.
Jordan: I felt something in the middle of my foot just crack. It was loud enough that I heard it, it hurt really badly. So I just toughed it out for those last 30-ish minutes before my break, and then I went down to, I guess it's kind of like their nurse's office, "AmCare," and I was like, "Hey, something happened, there was a loud crack, I really think there's an injury," and they looked at it and they were like, "Well, we don't see anything wrong, your foot's not swollen or anything, so just go to the dispenser, get some ibuprofen, and finish out your shift. It's either finish out your shift, or go home with unpaid time."
Bezos: If you're giving great customer experience, the only way to do that is with happy people.
Jordan: It really was just miserable.
Bezos: You can't do it with a set of miserable people.
Jordan: I have never had such a negative influence on my own health until I worked there.
After her experience working for Amazon, Jordan tries not to order products from their website anymore.
Jordan: If I get a gift card, that's really the only time I'll buy something. I just feel bad for everyone else that works there. Because maybe it's someone like me that hated their job or maybe they'll break their foot. I almost felt like it was a huge prison cell, because there were just little tiny windows that I could see the sun out of.
Bezos: I'm very proud of the culture that we have at Amazon.
Jordan: It just disturbs me because I know Jeff Bezos and the executive team at Amazon haven't ever worked one of those shifts before. If you worked a week in those conditions, it would have to change. Even me at the time being 19, it took a toll on my body, so I can't even imagine what it's doing to people who are older than me that work there. I want to know what's going on in his [Bezos'] head that makes him think it's suitable for people to work in conditions such as those.
Bezos: On the issue of working conditions, I'm very proud of our working conditions.