Working In A Distribution Centre.

[Anna B]

I've just come across the biggest Distribution Centre i've ever seen. It's simply enormous; so big they are in the process of building an entire road network to support it, (on what was originally an attractive green field site incidently.)

 

These places are popping up all over the place, and I suspect they will be the biggest employers in the area, which brings me to my point. Are the working conditions as bad as I've been told.? I've seen a couple of documentaries on them and a film which made them out to be sweat shops and akin to slave labour.

 

Is that true? I'd love to hear opinions from the horse's mouth, ie. people who actually work in them or know someone who does. Do you enjoy it?  How long do you last in one of these places? Are there many older people (over 50) working in them? I imagine more and more people will be working in them in the future.

[rudds1]

Anna.   I used to pull wagons out of a well known one and what I witnessed the pickers having to go through there is no way I’d ever work at that type of place yet I’ve been to others where the staff are treated a lot better .

i know there are targets to be met but making people cry just for taking a few seconds longer to process an order is just wrong which I witnessed regularly.

 

[Anna B]

Thanks for your reply Rudds.

I understand that a lot of the most basic worker's rights (like a break) are 'discouraged' by reducing hours/shifts to those who take them. That's the trouble with 0 hours, there are no rights and no security. 

And l suspect employees are too intimidated to speak out about abuses.

[cressida]

It might be that a lot of the employees have left,  I'm sure they will be permitted to speak of their experiences - en masse if necessary,  TV producers would fall over themselves to do a documentary on it.

[Anna B]

2 hours ago, cressida said:

It might be that a lot of the employees have left,  I'm sure they will be permitted to speak of their experiences - en masse if necessary,  TV producers would fall over themselves to do a documentary on it.

There have been documentaries on it, which have been damming. 

There's also an excellent BBC film, 'Life and Death in the Warehouse' available on iplayer.

 

Which brings me to my point. If these documentaries are true, why are we not doing something about the working conditions which must involve thousands? They are portrayed as brainwashing and slave labour. Is that what it's really like?

 

The buildings are popping up all over the place, yet I've never met or talked to anyone who's admitted to working in one.

[Anna B]

Disappointed that we haven't heard very much from people who actually work in these places.

Do you enjoy it? I've heard that the competitive nature of the way it operates appeals to boys but not so much to the girls, is that right?

Tell us about it. I'd love to hear from you.

[El Cid]

Minimum wage jobs are always going to be poor, as people develop they will get better jobs.

[Dromedary]

1 hour ago, El Cid said:

Minimum wage jobs are always going to be poor, as people develop they will get better jobs.

I know two people who work for ASOS.

 

Both are young male migrants, no qualifications and needed jobs, they got paid just above minimum wage.

 

One is still with them but the other is now training and working in telecom installation.

[hackey lad]

Said on here before , son and girlfriend both work at huge Sports Direct depot at Shirebrook .  Both have worked there over 10 years , first two years for an agency ,then they were took on by Sports Direct . Even when they were on a zero hours contract with the agency they have never worked less than 35 hours a week . They have now bought a house and are raising a little family while still working there . in a few weeks his girlfriend will have another baby and she will receive maternity pay for 1 year ( I think) . Dont believe all the bad stories you hear 

[Jim117]

My lad worked in one for a while and it was crap. He then got a job with Hermes using his own car to deliver parcels and it was much the same. At this point he was feeling pretty depressed and took an agency job working at a local factory. After a while the bosses noticed his attitude and way of working had helped move his department from loss to profit so they bought his contract. Now he still works at his bench but is also regularly booked in to hotels and sent round the country to troubleshoot in other plants. So he’s usually knackered but has money in his pocket and is a lot happier for it. I think there are plenty of jobs going but a lot of them are a bloody disgrace to their staff. On the flip side I reckon there are also useless employees so any firm with decent staff would be well advised to look after them.