Amazon supervisor warns employees not to pack up ‘early’ — 1 minute before shift ends

Facing admonishment for packing up “early” may sound familiar to antsy school children anxiously awaiting the school bell’s ring, but such is the case for full-grown adult employees, as well — at least those who work at Amazon.

In a TikTok posted by @amazonassociatef1, an anonymous Amazon associate who documents their day to day experiences working for the controversial company, an Amazon manager or supervisor of some kind is heard over the loud speaker warning employees not leave their stations “early” — though it’s less than one minute until their shifts end.

“It is 9:59, not 10’o’clock guys,” the Amazon superior asserts. “If you’re on your way to a break, you are getting TOT — as we speak. Just you know.”

“10’o’clock. It is work time,” she continues, although by the time she’s done speaking it’s almost certainly 10:00.

“TOT,” with which the superior threatens employees who prematurely left for their breaks, is short for “time off task.” According to The Verge, TOTs are used to monitor employees’ productivity: Should they rack up too much” time off task,” the “system automatically generates warnings and, eventually, the employee can be fired.”

TikTok Viewers are understandably upset by the warning.

“It is 9:59, not 10’o’clock,” the Amazon superior asserts.Photo Credit: amazonassociatef1/TikTok.

“Schools really preparing us for capitalism,” one noted.

“Wow!! So glad I canceled my interview,” another apparent prospective-Amazon employee said.

“And then if you clock off break at 10:01, they expect you to be back at 10:15 not 10:16,” another observed.

“Literally no point to that other than to remind workers how little control they have and keep them beaten down,” one viewer wrote. “What does it matter if you’re taking a 15 minute break at 9:59 or 10:00? It’s still 15 minutes either way. They just do this to keep them hopeless and submissive.”

One TikToker chimed in and pointed out how little of a break they actually get, considering the size of Amazon warehouses.

“What people don’t understand is that the warehouse is so big it takes 5 minutes to walk a break area,” they wrote. Another concurred, “aaaaaaand that’s why the turnover rate is 150%.”

“If you’re on your way to a break, you are getting TOT — as we speak. Just you know,” the manager continues.Photo Credit: amazonassociatef1/TikTok.

A former Amazon employee weighed in as well. “When I worked at Amazon they would literally yell at us to work faster,” they said. “Only job I ever walked out on lol the pay not even worth it.”

Several other users encouraged Amazon employees to unionise.

“Y’all need a union,” said one. “I don’t even work at Amazon and probably wouldn’t until they unionise,” wrote another. “I propose a new hashtag. #UnionizeAmazon.”

“I really need Amazon to unionise to I can use them more often,” another agreed. “I try my best not to.”

Indy100 reached out to Amazon for comment.

Update: Maria Boschetti, an Amazon Spokesperson, has provided the following statement in response to the aforementioned incident.

“We take these matters seriously and are actively investigating the incident. This does not reflect the high standards we have for our management team.”

Boschetti also requested we “please see Dave Clark’s recent blog post about TOT,” the link of which can be found here.