If you are looking to start your career working as an Amazon warehouse employee, you may be required to understand certain terminology, as well as the processes that go on behind closed doors so that you don’t fall behind and feel overwhelmed. In this article will see, What is pack flow at Amazon?
What pack flow is?
Pack flow refers to the rate at which employees in the Amazon warehouses are packaging the items into all the correct boxes. The employees are required, by Amazon, to scan roughly about 65 packages an hour. There is a lot more to the role of an Amazon packer, which we dive into deeper below.
What Exactly Does An Amazon Packer Do?
In the Amazon warehouses, there are well over a couple of thousand products that are stored to be packaged and shipped out to customers. Each of the items, when arriving at the warehouses is given a specific identification number to better organize and track the products. When there is an order placed on the item, they are then placed onto a conveyor belt in the warehouse which goes around in circulation to the Amazon Packers. The Amazon packers are required to find the correct item and package them accordingly into the correct boxes to make it easier to ship the products out to the customers. Might sound like a bit of a tedious job to have, but there are a lot more responsibilities that come with the specific job role.
Further Responsibilities Required By Amazon Packers:
There is a lot more to just finding the correct items and organizing them into boxes. Specific information needs to be recorded about the boxes before they get shipped out for further safety precautions:
- The employees are required to check if any of the products have been damaged, if so they can’t be packaged until the damages have been resolved.
- They need to ensure that the items, as well as the containers in which the products are going to be shipped in, are clean.
- They need to keep track of the correct number of packages being placed into each container to ensure that there isn’t any confusion on the exact quantity when they get shipped.
- General quality assurance of all packages before they get shipped out.
Suddenly sorting an average of 65 packages per hour seems a lot harder to accomplish now. Being able to maintain the pack flow rate is carefully monitored by the supervisors who work in the Amazon warehouses. If you fall behind, you get a warning. If you continue to fall behind, you’re fired.
But before you can even get employed as an Amazon packer, there are a couple of skill requirements that are needed by the company.
What Are The Requirements To Get A Job As An Amazon Packer?
Right, so you now know a brief description of what the roles and responsibilities the job will entail, if all that sounds like something you wish to pursue, then what is needed to get the job? Based on a few reviewed Amazon job listings and written posts from the relevant HR teams at Amazon, there are a few skills and abilities that come up more than once:
- You will be required to lift heavy objects for a long period of time.
- Simple math skills are needed for counting figuring out how to organize the packages
- Need to be able to meet deadlines in the specified time..
- Your attention to detail on your work needs to be very strong and diligent.
- You would need to be able to pass any screening or employment-background checks.
- Being bilingual is very advantageous
- After 3 months you are reviewed by the supervisors and may potentially be eligible for a raise.
So not only is the process of picking and packing Amazon products very meticulous but there is a tight schedule in which to accomplish these things in what is a very physically demanding job. But all that manual labor would seem pretty manageable as long as the pay is good, right?
How Much Money Do Amazon Pickers And Packers Make?
The million-dollar question we all have before accepting any job. Will you be able to pay your rent comfortably on a month-to-month basis as an Amazon Packer? Well to answer this, yes you can, but it depends. According to a few job listings on Indeed, Amazon Packers can expect to make around $26,000 to $28,000 annually. If you were to divide $26,000 by 12 months, that would come to $2167/month. This is typically the salary at the beginner level, you would be working for slightly under $14/hour for 8-hour shifts, Monday to Friday. Packers who gain a lot of experience over time should be able to expect the annual salary to be pushed up to about $32,000. Not to mention when working for Amazon, there are pretty nice company benefits that you are eligible for.
Amazon company benefits include:
- 1 Floating holiday after 90 Days
- Half-day paid off earned per month with perfect attendance. Employees are allowed up to 6 a year
- You become eligible for a 401k plan after you provide 1 year of service
- Amazon will match every dollar that you put into your 401k plan to help you to have more money invested for retirement
- Potential to earn bonuses based on holidays and how hard you work
- You receive Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance from Amazon
- There is a $1000 bonus for home buying assistance, meaning if you were looking to buy a home then Amazon would contribute $1000 to you to assist with the finances.
Conclusion
Now we have learnt What is pack flow at Amazon? Working as an Amazon packer is not the easiest job in the world. A lot of physical labor and tight deadlines are apparent. Being able to maintain the pack flow that they require could seem overwhelming at times, however, in what is always going to be a long journey to find a career that you are passionate about, everybody needs to start somewhere. At least you know that when working for a company as big as Amazon, you will always be guaranteed incredible company benefits during your time there, which not a lot of jobs have this kind of security. If you want to know more about working as an Amazon Packer, the only thing left for you to do now is send in that resume and find out.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
- Do I need a college degree or diploma to become an Amazon Packer?
- No, you do not require a degree or diploma to work as an Amazon Packer. Training will be provided. They do however require you have a matric certificate or a valid GED.
- Is there an interview process after you’ve applied?
- Due to a shortage of workers as well as a consistently growing workload for Amazon, the majority of the time there is no interview process. If your resume meets their minimal requirements, you are pushed through to start working almost immediately. But this isn’t always the case. There are some instances where you will be required for some form of screening before being accepted.
- How much work experience is required to start working as an Amazon Packer?
- Typically for the entry-level positions, Amazon requires you to have at least 1-3 years of experience in a similar role, however, there are numerous accounts of people that have been employed although not fulfilling this requirement.
- How long is the process to get employed from the moment I send through my application?
- Typically it can take up to a week or 2 weeks to receive an email back from the Amazon recruitment team. After you’ve completed the interview, it’s said to take as little as 2-3 days before receiving the job offer. Usually, it should never take longer than a week.
