On the international stage, public often criticises Amazon for its inhumane work conditions in its warehouses. In response to such sentiment, its branch company in India is looking to do better for its workforce in the country.
According to the latest announcement from Amazon Country Head for India Amit Agarwal, he has reportedly asked employees to leave themselves enough time to spend at home after the working hours. Emphasising the importance of healthy ‘work-life harmony’, he encouraged employees to stop taking work-related calls and emails after hours. He specifically mentioned that, “No business decision should be made between 6 pm and 8 am.”
However, as India Times reports, it remains unclear whether this decision comes from Agarwal or from the company’s global leadership. It is most likely the latter, given that there has been no such discussion for U.S. employees. It will also be interesting to see how long this plan will take effect, considering the sheer size of the e-commerce portal.
See: Walmart India Expects to Generate 30,000 Employment Opportunities in Uttar Pradesh
Observing from how the company stands right now, deliveries are not dispatched beyond a certain time anyway, so the decision might not bring much change for warehouse and delivery staff. Meanwhile, for the core employees, there is question as how those liasoning with Amazon Global function will work around the plan. Not to mention, this also means that if customer does not receive their order the day it was supposed to arrive, the customer support call is going to have to wait until the next day.
This is in addition to the fact that Amazon recently put out word for 237 new “work-from-home” positions in and outside the US, 235 of which are full time. From the way it looks, Amazon is perhaps trying to sincerely tackle its hellish work culture, and might actually succeed.
