Avoiding tax, mistreating workers, pricing competitors out of the market... Amazon's been criticised for a lot over the last few years. Sarah Dobbs checks in to see if things are getting better
Remember when Amazon was just a site for buying books more cheaply than you could in 'real world' bookshops? Now it seems to have taken over almost every aspect of commerce - it sells everything you could ever want, with next day delivery and a super slick checkout that almost completely removes the pain of handing over your money. It's got its fingers in plenty of other pies too, from its own publishing platform, electronics, film studio, and so, so much more.
Inevitably, when a company gets that big and that successful, it's going to come under fire for something or other, and in Amazon's case, there's been a lot to criticise. From tax avoidance to scandals over working conditions in its warehouses, over the past few years it seems like there have been plenty of reasons to dislike the mega-corporation. Yet, many of us still probably use it as our primary shopping resource, certainly for media, and Amazon doesn't appear to be in any danger of going out of business.
So, now that the dust has settled on revelations like Amazon only paying 1 % of the tax it should have done back in 2011, it's time to take another look at the company, and see if it's managed to turn things around. Is Amazon now as cuddly as it would like you to think?
Tax Woes
The tax thing is one of the biggest reasons people turned against Amazon. Back at Christmas 2012, John Lewis was one of several big British companies to speak out against Jeff Bezos and со, asking people to consider supporting businesses who actually contributed to the country via paying tax. Considering the economic climate, swerving a potential £200 million in tax (in a single year) meant Amazon looked a bit like a cartoonish villain, diving into a swimming pool full of its cash while the government made cuts to public services left, right, and centre.
Since then, things have changed a bit. Last year, Amazon agreed to change its questionable corporate structure so that, rather than booking transactions in Luxembourg, where taxes are lower, it set up local branches in the various European countries where it operates. That means UK sales can be taxed in the UK. Good news, right?
Well, sort of. HMRC won't yet have seen much of Amazon's money; last year, for example, despite £5.3 billion in sales in the UK, Amazon paid just £11.9 million in tax, because sales were still being recorded in Luxembourg. Amazon has also argued that it doesn't make anywhere near as much money as people think, because sales aren't the same as profits, and its overheads mean that its profit margins are relatively slim. Still, from now on Amazon will at least be paying more tax in the UK than it has to date, so that probably counts for something.
Worker Welfare
2011 also saw Amazon scrutinised for its treatment of staff - specifically, the staff who work in its many warehouses around the world, picking items for delivery to customers. According to some workers, conditions in the warehouses were becoming unbearable, particularly in some parts of the US during the summer, where heatwaves made it difficult to physically tolerate the work. Further indignities included temporary contracts that could be terminated at any time, for any reason - including taking more than three sick days in three months, despite the long hours and difficult conditions. Several journalists went undercover in Amazon warehouses back in 2013 to investigate, and found things were, indeed, pretty grim.
So, again, have they improved? Not according to the GMB trade union, who reported last year that staff working in Amazon's UK 'fulfilment centres' had developed both physical and mental illnesses as a result of the working conditions. The problem comes from Amazon's data driven focus on efficiency at all costs. Workers are issued with handheld devices that tell them where items are stored in the warehouses, and which track them as they retrieve them. Built-in timers countdown the seconds allocated for the workers to grab each item on their list - workers are expected to pick approximately 1,000 items per 10-hour shift, and if they miss enough of the countdowns, they'll miss their productivity targets. There's no room for being a bit under the weather, and even toilet breaks are timed.
It all sounds pretty horrendous, even before you factor in the reports that in American warehouses, there are screens showing silhouettes of former employees, stamped over with the reason for their terminations. While it's understandable that Amazon wants to discourage staff from stealing, those kinds of Orwellian tactics seem a bit over the top, especially since workers are also made to go through mandatory searches before leaving the workplace.
On top of the stress of it all, it's not a particularly well paid job, and just last month workers in German Amazon warehouses went on strike to try to demand a fairer deal - and not for the first time either. On balance, it doesn't sound like working conditions have improved massively over the years.
A Glimmer Of Hope
Ready for some better news? Amazon can pride itself on a commitment to gender and racial equality. A report published by the retailer last month showed that in a review of pay across the organisation, women made $0.99 for every $1 made by a man in the same role, while non-white workers made $1.01 to every $ 1 made by white staff doing the same jobs. That's pretty commendable.
In the US, Amazon also qualifies for a brownie point or two for its Amazon Smile program. Through the program, 0.5% of any money shoppers spend on Amazon is donated to charity, at no extra cost to the shopper. It's not a massive percentage, and there's been some criticism of the scheme for that reason, but, well, it's certainly better than nothing.
Finally, Amazon has recently announced that it's going to be opening a fulfilment centre in Manchester, creating approximately 1,000 new jobs over the next couple of years. Unfortunately those might not seem like highly desirable jobs, all things considered. However, local MPs, like Labour's Mike Kane, seem to be happy about it and the opportunities it'll bring for their constituents. So, again, it can't be all bad.
General Dystopian Vibes
Maybe the real problem with Amazon is that is sometimes just gives you the creeps. Some of its plans for the future, for example, seem ripped from the plot of a dystopian sci-fi movie, and sometimes it just makes bad decisions.
Amazon's ambitious plans for a drone delivery system, for example, might be practical, but it all sounds terrifying. Dubbed Amazon Prime Air, the new system could mean customers would receive their Amazon deliveries faster than ever before - in some cases, within 30 minutes of ordering, according to Amazon's Paul Misener. The specially designed drones would be able to sense and avoid obstacles in their paths, and would fly at between 200- and 400ft above ground level, low enough to avoid colliding with aeroplanes or helicopters. It should all sound really exciting, but instead there's something faintly sinister about it. Maybe it's just that there have been too many science fiction movies featuring evil robots?
A recent patent filed by Amazon reveals how the drones will warn people of their presence: they'll use their propellers to create a noise that sounds like a voice shouting "watch out!" or maybe spell out messages using lights built into their propeller blades. Fancy getting your shopping delivered by one of those?
Then there's the stuff that's actually happening now, and shouldn't be. Amazon sells all sorts of products through its site, which is why it's so huge, but it also means that sometimes, things get shipped to people they shouldn't be. A teenager from Aberdeen who murdered a fellow pupil at his school bought the murder weapon, an age-restricted knife, from Amazon - getting round the law by sticking a note to his front door and having the parcel left outside, rather than accepting the delivery in person. To prove it wasn't a one-off, The Guardian tried a similar trick, ordering restricted knives and having them delivered to a family home, then not opening the door to the Amazon Logistics delivery person when they arrived.
Other restricted items, like illegal stun guns and pepper sprays, were also found being sold by third parties through Amazon's site. Amazon wasn't selling them itself, from its own warehouses, but facilitating the sales; obviously there are millions of things sold from third party sellers every day, so Amazon can't realistically check every single listing individually, but it does have to bear some responsibility for these kinds of problems.
Does It Matter?
The thing is, Amazon now seems to be too big, and too convenient, for any of its faults to really matter. The proof? Well, the US-based Reputation Institute compiles an annual list of the top 10 most reputable companies, and for the past three years running, Amazon has sat right on top of that list. It's hard to argue with the fact that it genuinely makes it easier to buy things - you can even set up subscriptions for things like household essentials, so that you know you'll never run out of toothpaste or toilet roll. What's more, it's almost always cheaper than going out to buy it from a physical shop, which is the thing that counts for most people.
Amazon is a huge company right now, and one that only seems set to grow over the next few years - in terms of profits, number of warehouses, and influence. There's a well-known quote from a comic book character that seems appropriate here, though: with great power comes great responsibility. A company the size of Amazon has responsibilities, not just to its shareholders but to its workers, its customers, and ultimately the countries it operates in. And at the moment, unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the company is fulfilling those responsibilities.
Want To Boycott Amazon? You Probably Can't
Here's the real kicker when it comes to Amazon: even if you wanted to avoid using its products entirely, you probably can't.
You could avoid using www.amazon.co.uk to buy things, of course. That's relatively easy, although actually if you want a specific book, CD or DVD your choice of alternative outlets is fairly limited, especially now so many bookshops and high street music and movie shops have closed down. Even Play.com doesn't really exist any more. There are alternatives, they just require a bit more time and effort (and money) to track down.
You can also avoid using Amazon's online movie and TV streaming services by choosing to use an alternative like Netflix, though there are some Amazon exclusives you'll have to live without.
If you want to read ebooks, you'll find your Amazon alternatives are fairly limited. Even worse, if you like audio books, you'll have to avoid Audible, which is owned by Amazon. Bad news, too, for comics fans, since ComiXology is owned by Amazon, and so, too, is GoodReads - so if you're into logging the books you read, you'll need to find another way to do it.
Amazon is also behind lots of other websites. You might not know it, but lots of sites use Amazon's Web Services to power their sites and applications. When it comes to trying to avoid a company as omnipresent as Amazon, resistance is all but futile.