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Amazon says it’s tackling one of its longtime critiques—a lack of diversity—head-on with a campaign to hire more women and Black people in leadership roles. But the efforts won’t help people of color within Amazon’s lower wage workforce, many of whom labor in its warehouse facilities.
“Diversity is important and has to be encouraged regardless of everything else, but you cannot have a separate approach to diversity in the corporate headquarters and still mistreat the vast majority of your warehouse workers,”Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) President Stuart Appelbaum told Retail Brew.
For diversity’s sake
Amazon is typically reluctant to discuss diversity among its employees, as Bloomberg points out, but now is publicly outlining diversity targets for 2021, including:
- 30% more women in senior technical jobs
- 2X as many high-level Black employees
- More attention to diverse recruitment and retention across the board.
It also disclosed demographic data for its more than 500,000-person US workforce, which is more than two-thirds non-white. And workers at the Bessemer, AL, facility—which recently drew national attention for its attempt to unionize—are between 80% and 85% Black, Appelbaum said.
The union push—which ultimately failed—was motivated by the substandard conditions Bessemer fulfillment workers face, an issue that Amazon warehouse workers have raised nationwide.
What happens now?
Though Amazon denies it mistreats warehouse workers, outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos said the company needs “a better vision for how we create value for employees,” and that he didn’t take comfort from the outcome of the Alabama vote.
- Bezos said the company is rolling out automated staffing schedules that use algorithms to rotate employees among tasks that use different muscle groups, to reduce musculoskeletal disorders.
- Amazon fulfillment centers recorded 7.7 serious injuries per 100 workers in 2018, nearly double the industry standard rate. The company says this is because it strongly encourages reporting.
Looking ahead: While Amazon’s highest ranks are poised to become more diverse, the unionization fight continues, Appelbaum told us. Rather than an endorsement of Amazon’s working conditions, he believes the results demonstrated “the powerful impact of employer intimidation and interference.” The union is filing challenges to the election and will demand another vote. — KM