[stevegalla]

> No but my naivety thought there would be more automation in place to reduce walking, sorting and picking up heavy things.

Having worked in a non-Amazon fulfillment center, I’m amazed at the automation they do have.

Picking and packing product once it’s in a warehouse isn’t the difficult part. Unloading and loading the shipping containers, in my experience, is far more difficult.

To maximize space in shipping containers they can be packed floor to ceiling. I think about 22kg was the maximum weight of product I was unloading. Picture beverages stacked floor to ceiling in a 50 foot trailer. The optimal lifting position will happen for a small percentage of the boxes moved. You’re on your toes trying to pull product from above your head, then you’ll be bending over to pick product off the ground.

Palletizing the product for transportation within the warehouse also puts you in disadvantaged positions.

There will be some token training on how to lift correctly, but you will quickly be falling behind on productivity.

To achieve your targets there will be times when you’ll be lifting two boxes together. Or stacking them to be more efficient.

If you’re lucky and they see you working hard, they may give you a rest day by putting you on light duty once every two weeks. If you piss off the scheduler, enjoy your heavy rotations.

It’s probably a good thing to reduce the human element assigning this kind of work.

Also don’t forget not all product (e.g., heavy exercise equipment) arrives with intact packaging. Sometimes you’ll have to move this out by hand when a box falls apart and then repackage the material.

When you’re picking product there is often powered pallet jacks to get from point a to point b, but you end up taking short cuts and jumping off before the machine has reached a complete stop.

This work is still better than doing rebar or construction. At least you get a roof overhead and stay out of the elements.

People who are young and need a job will do dumb things to stay employed.