These Asos Warehouse Workers Are Paying The True Price Of Your Order
In a three-month investigation, BuzzFeed News interviewed current and former Asos warehouse employees and obtained internal documents, text messages, and phone recordings that lay bare the highly pressurised conditions involved in getting online orders from the company’s central warehouse to customers across the world within 48 hours. Agency workers and permanent staff say they are saddled with onerous targets to process high volumes of orders each hour, and some say this discourages them from stopping to drink water or use the toilet – and that managers have even recommended they don’t do so towards the end of shifts. The investigation comes as Asos finds its working practices under increased public scrutiny. Last month Labour MP and party leadership contender Owen Smith criticised the company’s use of flexible working contracts, and the trade union GMB called for the House of Commons business select committee to launch an inquiry into the firm following complaints about working practices at the Grimethorpe warehouse and “invasive monitoring and surveillance” of staff. Read more at BuzzFeed.
