Amazon HR system automatically fires 'inefficient' warehouse workers
An Amazon HR system automatically monitored and sacked 'hundreds' of workers at a single warehouse who were not considered to be working fast enough. I n a letter to the US National Labor Relations Board shared with The Verge , an attorney at law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius representing Amazon responded to a termination complaint by describing (pdf) how Amazon fired 'hundreds' of workers at a single facility between August 2017 and September 2018 for failing to reach productivity targets and quality-control mandates. The system 'automatically generates any warnings or terminations regarding quality or productivity without input from supervisors', according to the letter. It also said that a worker would receive a termination notice if they were given six warnings in a 12-month period. Amazon responded by denying it sent out automatically-generated termination notices and said its warehouse workers are given training to help them improve if they miss targets. System 🤖 Amazon US 🔗 Operator: Amazon Developer: Amazon Country: USA Sector: Transport/logistics Purpose: Improve productivity Technology: Machine learning Issue: Employment; Fairness Legal, regulatory 👩🏼⚖️ Legal letter to US National Labor Relations Board (pdf)
- Date it happened
- 2017-08-01
- Organisation involved
- Amazon
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