Amazon is bringing back metal detector screenings for its 750,000 U.S. warehouse workers and will now require employees to register their phones, , according to Bloomberg.
The policy, a return to pre-pandemic practices, aims to prevent theft. Workers must walk through metal detectors when leaving warehouses, and register their phones by providing the last six digits of the serial number to receive an ID sticker.
The rollout began this week at select test sites and will expand nationwide.
We’re sure the practice was halted at some point during the “summer of love” in 2020 because it somehow became (pick one: racist, sexist, pro-colonizer) to try and ensure your employees weren’t stealing from the company – as if it hasn’t been common practice in the world of retail for decades to “check bags” when employees leave stores that carry inventory.
The Bloomberg report says that metal detectors were standard at Amazon warehouses before the pandemic but sparked controversy.
In 2014, workers sued for over $100 million in back pay, claiming they waited up to 25 minutes for screenings. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled they weren’t owed compensation for that time.
Amazon also banned phones inside facilities pre-pandemic, requiring workers to leave them in cars or lockers. That rule was relaxed during COVID so employees could access urgent health updates.
Today, Amazon runs 110 U.S. warehouses, some over a million square feet, and employs 1.5 million people globally, making it the world’s second-largest company after Walmart.
“We’re always working to make our facilities more safe and secure for our employees and for all companies of all sizes that put their trust in us to store their inventory,” the company told Bloomberg.
Yes, and your transition to Foxconn is almost complete…
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