Shaping Markets
Tracked and Targeted: Navigating Worker Surveillance at Amazon
01. 23. 2024
This report details the emotional, physical, and material costs of being watched and pushed to optimize productivity and performance models.
This report was published by Our Data Bodies.
Tracked and Targeted: Navigating Worker Surveillance at Amazon features insights and stories based on an initial analysis of 21 interviews conducted with current and former workers.
Our Data Bodies’ qualitative, participatory study completed in partnership with United for Respect, brings to light the policing and punishment that happens within Amazon fulfillment centers. Some key themes include:
- Pervasive surveillance in the workplace connects to pervasive mental health struggles.
- Surveillance in the workplace sets up a rigged system where workers bear the burden of responsibility for performance and productivity issues.
- Surveillance systems enhance Amazon’s ability to act with impunity.
- Workers cope with and challenge Amazon’s surveillance system as a matter of survival, necessity, and dignity, albeit under precarious and unpredictable circumstances