Amazon.com Reviews in Whitestown, IN

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time for less than a year

Pros – Pros: decent pay, good people, good exercise. You get some employee benefits and learn how Amazon works from the inside.

Cons – You don't really get a break. Your feet hurt after awhile, your lunch break is short and the shifts are very long. Pretty taxing. Can be mind numbingly boring at times.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for more than a year

Pros – The pay is competitive. The insurance is very good. You are given a significant amount of responsibility in order to develop.

Cons – You are required to work at least 1 weekend day every week. Compensation is based on the time you have worked for the company, not performance. Responsibility and expectations at the management level can be overwhelming at times.

Advice to Senior Management – Get around the facility more often. Meet the people in the departments and give more real time quality feedback. Actionable feedback allows for more effective shifts.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time

Pros – Sometimes you would find an open box of candy to eat.

Cons – They worked you like a slave. The breaks were not enough for all the running we had to do throughout the ginormous wear house. They should definitely pay more. In the summertime it was beyond unbearably hot and it is very hard to make rate as a picker.

Advice to Senior Management – Restructure

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – -Overtime
-Work 4 days and 10 hours a week.
-Stock opportunity

Cons – -Unfair management
-Favoritism at an all time high
-Management and employee turnover at an all time high as well

-Associates aren't allowed to fully enjoy their breaks and lunches due to their travel time being included in their break time. For instance, if you start walking towards the break room at 9:30, and you get to the break room and sit down at 9:33, that travel time is added against your break time.

-Communication issues between management
-Micromanaging
-EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES

-Managers and HRSB's often harp about there being an "open door policy" and a voice of the associate board for associates who wish to voice their suggestions, comments, and questions, which often goes unacknowledged because they selectively read what they want and respond how they want. If it's something that isn't complimenting THEM or anything positive about the job in general, don't count on for a response from them. If most of the comments are negative, then they will only suggest for the associate with the issue to come to their office or report it to an immediate manager at any time so that it can be properly addressed, which rarely happens.

Advice to Senior Management – -Seeing as how the turnover rate for this employer is ridiculously high, I guess it wouldn't make sense to waste time and money training new and/or relatively seasoned employees in multiple functions.

-The first few years of the Amazon - Whitestown IND1 opening went really well because of the consistent record -breaking of units processed. Good management and incentives played a role in that until the GM decided it would be a great idea to swap them out for new management and things took a turn for the worse. Micromanaging and little to no incentives played a role in how the customers were always receiving wrong items, how employees were overworked and making a lot of mistakes, and how coachings, first/second/written warnings are second nature if an associate isn't performing 100% or better. Like for instance, an associate can and will be written up even if they're at a 99 percent for the week. Take a look at how associates did the first years of Amazon opening, then take a look at how things are going now. It goes back on how things were managed, not the associate. If termination should take place, it should start with the managers.

-Hire managers that actually HAVE good interpersonal skills and have actually dealt with people instead of hiring fresh young faces that are seconds out of college with little to no management experience. Amazon is too big of a warehouse for anyone new to handle that big of a responsibility. I understand that you have to start somewhere, but Amazon is NOT the place.

-In order to have a happy customer, you have to have a happy employee. Make sure you treat your employees well, and by well, I mean actually making sure they have their FULL 15 minute breaks and full 30 minute lunch.

When you have money hungry managers that are very customer centric and only care about numbers, you're bound to see a downfall somewhere, usually in productivity and attendance. You're overworking your employees and they usually have nothing to show for it. There's a lot of money put in your pockets from overworking your employees, and what are your employees getting? $5 gas cards or a gift card to a place they don't even shop at or never knew existed until after the fact.

-Stop berating your employees like children when mistakes are made and customers are receiving the wrong items due to carelessness, fatigue, and your unrealistic demands that you won't admit to. It all starts from YOU guys and how well you treat your associates. When you start treating your associates better, I can guarantee you will see a much better result.

-Don't think that just because you're manager and you have a title, that you are always right and have no room for criticism as well as improvement.

-Communication between managers is bad. Very bad, which is why the "open door policy" and VOA board is such a bust [let's not forget flawed] because they don't properly address the comments, suggestions, and concerns that need answers. I find it odd that communication between them is bad, yet they will bend over backwards to make sure they deliver a coaching, first/second/final written warning to an associate with the quickness, but will take days to address an associate's need. You can't be that busy if all you're doing is looking at spreadsheets.

HR is not your friend if you're an employee. They are only there to defend the employer, not you. Unless you're being threatened, sexually harassed, or being discriminated against, then don't count on HR for anything should you seek "assistance" [or lack thereof] from any of them.

-The rating system is flawed, but they will never admit it. They expect you to process X amount of units per hour even when bin space becomes limited, but will still hold you to that standard because the senior OPS manager needs to see that the ops manager is seeing into the area manager taking appropriate action on the associate not being 100% or better to make them look good.

GET RID OF STANDARD WORK IN INBOUND.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time for less than a year

Pros – Good pay, a lot of room to work at your own pace and make your rate. Well ventilated areas and easy access to water or free Gatorade.

Cons – Rates sometimes can be slanted or unrealistic depending on the amount of space given. Don't expect to be able to use sick days or get much personal time off easily in case of an emergency.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – Stock payouts
Good Insurance
Raises until you max out in 3 years... @ $16/hr.
Challenges every day.
Good experience managing large number of associates.

Cons – ZERO work life balance. When requesting time off, I get dirty looks from my managers.
Almost no communications between tier 3's and management
Almost no recognition from superiors.
I find myself training managers who are supposed to be developing me.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – Amazon is a huge growing company with excellent benefits, so the chances of a lay-off due to lack of business won't happen.

Cons – We are treated like machines set up to meet impossible rates per hour. Mandatory overtime working 50 to 60 hours a week and it's not even peek season yet. It often reaches 110 degrees in the warehouse. 15 minute breaks are taken up walking across the building to get to the breakroom or outside.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat us like individual human beings, not robots. Instead of trashing books, toys and other goods donate them to Goodwill, Salvation army or other charities! It is such a sinful wastes to just trash all these products when so many people are in need!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – Amazon is still a relatively new company, as such, there is a lot of room for growth if you are patient and like to promote yourself

Cons – Managers care mostly about what benefits them and not Amazon.
Very little planning.
Most communications are passed along at the last second.
They will tell you they provide paid holidays, but what they mean is that you will be required to work and they will pay you for it.
They will hire you for one task, but then create walls that prevent you from doing your job.

Advice to Senior Management – People really do need work areas. My file cabinet is a cardboard box, my desk is anyplace I can find to set my computer. Recognize peoples talent and let them do the jobs you hire them for.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – - benefits
- RSU's
- wear jeans to work

Cons – - no work/life balance at all
- high expectations

Advice to Senior Management – - they need to remember people are the key to success

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com

Pros – Pay is above average.
There are more good people at Amazon than what I'm reading here.
Fairly autonomous environment.
Good benefits.

Cons – Once again, so many to list. But basically this place is the very definition of cogs in a machine. As someone who works on the floor whether you receive, stock, pick, ship, etc the only thing that matter are your numbers. NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS. That is the most often emphasized theme there. It is their mantra for goodness sake. Low end employees while I worked there weren't really mistreated but largely ignored unless you had a problem. I think Amazon is really working on improving the workplace atmosphere. Because Whitestown was not nearly as bad as others are describing. But people randomly walk around and check in with you on your numbers and if they aren't up to par you will be gently encouraged for a limited time until you are basically fired but complimented for your contribution. The pace there is outrageous. There are some positions where some people can simply just not keep up. So if you work there you can make it work but be careful to choose the right position for you.

I found that our direct management was actually pretty decent. They would encourage you to come with them for issues but the problem is they would just repeatedly fix issues and not fix the root cause. And by extension creating more down time and frustration for the employee who's numbers are dropping while they fix their scanner or some other repetitive issue. Whenever you address an issue that clearly exists that needs remedied on a larger scale to prevent other future issues middle management shrugs their shoulders and just says oh well. And I have a distinct feeling that upper management probably doesn't care what the underlings say. I find this indifference and ignorance odd since the whole company's mission statement is based on efficiency.

There definitely are some bad managers who just need a whip and they'd crack it. Although surprisingly I would say that was the exception more than the rule at this particular facility. Be that as it may just more transparency and more respect for people who are obviously smarter than the rest of the work force would be nice. There are plenty of people who are happy to just work their butts off and go unnoticed but if your someone who can figure out things on a larger scale and structure and see the inefficiencies or issues you will be very frustrated not only by realizing these things, but peoples indifference to their existence.

Then of course finally, work/life balance. I won't go on about it. But it is literally once of the worst place to work in regards to that. You may be a worthless drone to them but dangit you're THEIR worthless drone. But most people go in expecting that as well. So just be prepared.

Advice to Senior Management – MORE TRANSPARENCY! Actually strive to recognize the issues brought to you by lower management and other employees and seek to correct them.
Make sure those in management have some level of people skills and make sure they understand the very company they work for. If one of their lower employees can figure things out and they can't, that's a bad sign.
HIRE MORE PEOPLE! You definitely have the deep pockets to hire more people. During off season or normal season maybe not as required. But when it is peak or busier just hire enough people to balance the load so people don't have to work at insane paces in tandem with insane hours. This is not China and this is not a sweatshop. Show a little respect and gratitude and stop it with insulting rewards system you throw around for free vending items or the slim chance of winning prizes during peak season. I guarantee most people find this marginally motivating.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend