Workers on an Amazon warehouse floor
Warehouse workers have already tested positive in Spain, Italy, and in the US state of Washington. A recent online petition calling for measures to prevent the spread of the virus has been signed by 1,500 Amazon workers.
With millions of people quarantined or otherwise confined to their homes, orders through Amazon have mounted precipitously. In the UK, where Amazon employs approximately 27,000 workers, warehouse workers report being subjected to compulsory overtime to meet increased demand.
On Friday, schools in Meghan's area closed, and many Amazon workers are now staying home to care for their children. In Meghan's case, she cares for three children. Management has indicated that workers will not be penalized for not showing up in March, but at the same time, workers are not receiving paid time off.
How will she survive without pay? "That's a good question," Meghan says. "I live paycheck to paycheck now. Many working class families, they have a buffer. I quite literally live paycheck to paycheck. Three weeks with no income and I'm screwed."
Comment: While its clear that a panic about the severity of the virus has clearly taken hold among Amazon workers and others, its clear that the fear of losing income and the potential for losing jobs altogether, is a very legitimate reason to be concerned about how upper managers deal with the knock-on effects of the disease. And we won't just be seeing stories like this one among workers of Amazon either; greater economic distress will be the new normal.