Survey Finds Only 21% Of Amazon India Workers Feel Safe At Workplace

Regarding pay, 46 per cent of warehouse workers and 37 per cent of delivery drivers stated their earnings were inadequate to cover basic needs, according to the report

Only one in five Amazon warehouse workers and drivers in India consider their work environment safe, indicates a report released Wednesday by the UNI Global Union, a global union federation for service industries. This follows recent media coverage of hazardous working conditions at Amazon warehouses in and around Delhi NCR during last month's heatwave.

According to a report published in partnership with the Amazon India Workers Association (AIWA), only 21.3 per cent of warehouse workers and drivers believe that the work environment at Amazon is safe. The report, based on a survey of 1,838 former and current warehouse workers and drivers associated with Amazon India, also highlighted that nearly 45 per cent of warehouse workers and 47 per cent of delivery drivers consider the work environment at Amazon unsafe.

The report highlighted that 80 per cent of warehouse workers find Amazon's set targets "difficult" or "very difficult" to achieve. Additionally, 86 per cent of warehouse workers and 28 per cent of drivers noted insufficient restroom breaks provided by the company. Furthermore, one in five delivery drivers reported sustaining injuries on the job. Regarding pay, 46 per cent of warehouse workers and 37 per cent of delivery drivers stated their earnings were inadequate to cover basic needs.

Amazon has disputed these assertions, describing them as factually inaccurate, unsupported, and contradictory to feedback received directly from its employees.

“The data being quoted appears at best questionable, and at worst deliberately designed to deliver on a specific narrative that certain groups are trying to claim as fact. By contrast, in our most recent internal survey at our Manesar fulfilment centre (in Haryana) — conducted randomly and anonymously— 87 per cent of our workforce said they were satisfied with their jobs, with as many as eight out of 10 recommending Amazon as a great place to work,” the Amazon India spokesperson said in a statement.

The UNI Global Union commissioned the report, conducted by Jarrow Insights, over 50 days from February 2 to March 22, 2024. The study employed a combination of on-site and digital methodologies to achieve a representative sample of Amazon’s workforce in India.

“The findings from India echo the global alarm workers around the world are raising about inhumane productivity demands, inadequate safety measures and poor compensation,” said UNI Global Union.

Last year, the Union conducted a comparable study across eight countries, including the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, highlighting intense pressure and detrimental working conditions at Amazon.