Lauren Rosenblatt | (TNS) The Seattle Times
More than two years after launching an audit to study racial equity in its warehouses, Amazon quietly released the results last month, revealing workers’ concerns over “inequities,” despite programs the company already has in place.
The report, led by former attorney general Loretta Lynch, found Amazon’s warehouse workers felt there were inequities in how the company treats its employees — particularly around who gets promoted and who gets disciplined.
When they raised concerns, workers said their complaints “were not taken seriously.” When they faced discipline, they said the process was unfair and that managers failed to give them appropriate warnings in advance.
The law firm that conducted the audit, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP, attributed those “perceptions” of inequity to an uneven understanding of the company’s policies and decision-making process. It encouraged Amazon to do more to communicate with its staff.
“Amazon is deeply committed to [diversity, equity and inclusion] and providing equitable opportunities to its U.S. hourly associates,” the firm wrote in its final report, released on Aug. 30, the Friday before the Labor Day holiday weekend.
“The company’s multitude of programs and initiatives available to associates … provides ample evidence of that,” the firm continued. “Nevertheless, through this audit, we identified areas where there were perceptions of inequity or opportunities for additional enhancements to mitigate potential future risks.”
Put simply, “Amazon clearly has work to do,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who filed shareholder resolutions requesting such an audit, on behalf of the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
“Our pension fund is going to keep an eye on Amazon to ensure it implements the audit’s recommendations and tackles these issues head-on, company wide,” he said.
Amazon launched the audit in 2022, after DiNapoli’s shareholder proposal. The resolutions never received enough votes to pass, but Amazon was still under pressure to examine any uneven effects of its policies, programs and practices on hourly employees.
The proposal requested such an audit “because of the pattern and magnitude of controversies repeatedly facing Amazon.”
The audit focused on Amazon’s 750,000 warehouse workers, but the company has faced numerous allegations of racial and gender discrimination among its white-collar ranks, as well, particularly when it comes to hiring and promotions.
In a blog post announcing the results of the audit, Amazon said it was “just one part of the significant short- and long-term investments we’ve made to foster a more inclusive and welcoming workplace.”
The report did not suggest “structural changes” but made recommendations “centered on something very familiar to Amazon — ongoing iterative improvement,” the post read. “We will continue to approach each opportunity to grow and advance our inclusion efforts with intentionality and consistency.”
Perceived inequities
To conduct the audit, the firm interviewed workers and Amazon leaders, sent a survey to the warehouse workforce and reviewed the company’s training and policy documents.
It found some positives — including employee resource groups focused on different populations, funding for further education and retirement benefits — and some room for improvement, particularly when it came to promotions, responding to complaints …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
