American households became dependent on Amazon.
The numbers speak for themselves: in 2024, 83% of US households will receive shipments from Amazon, representing more than one million packages delivered daily and 9 billion individual items delivered the same or next day each year. In an astonishingly short time, the company transformed itself from an online bookstore into a giant that redefined retail. But its impact is not limited to how we shop.
Behind that incessant flow of packages are more than a million people who work in Amazon’s distribution centers and delivery vehicles. Thanks to its growing dominance in the retail sector, Amazon surpassed its two main competitors in the courier business, UPS and FedEx, in terms of package volume.
What is the life of these workers like? Between the optimistic image that Amazon projects, on the one hand, and the disturbing revelations of journalists and activists, on the other, it is difficult to know. In part, this is because researchers like us lack a lot of reliable data: the experiences of workers at companies like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx can be unknown. Amazon’s distant relationship with the drivers it depends on for deliveries makes getting answers even more difficult.
But that didn’t stop us. Using exclusive data from Project Shift, our new study, co-authored by Julie Su and Kevin Bruey, offers the first direct, large-scale comparison of the working conditions of drivers and logistics employees at Amazon, UPS and FedEx, based on survey responses from more than 9,000 workers.
What we discovered was deeply concerning, not only for Amazon drivers, but also for the future of work in the delivery sector in general.
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From models, from realities
For nearly a century, driving delivery trucks was a path to the middle class, as evidenced by union jobs at UPS. UPS drivers, members of the Teamsters union for decades, are employees with legal protection and a collective bargaining agreement.
In contrast, Amazon adopted a very different model. Most importantly, Amazon does not directly employ almost any of its delivery drivers.
Instead, its transportation division, Amazon Logistics, relies on two methods to deliver most of its shipments: Amazon Flex, a platform-like system that treats drivers as independent contractors, and Amazon DSP, a franchise-like system that uses subcontractors. Almost all of DSP’s subcontractors are non-union, and the company has severed relations with those whose drivers have tried to unionize. These practices put downward pressure on the wages and working conditions of drivers across the sector.
The impact on workers is evident.
We found that Amazon delivery drivers receive significantly lower salaries than those at UPS and FedEx. Pay gaps are especially large between Amazon delivery drivers, who earn an average of $19 an hour, and UPS union drivers, who earn $35.
We also found that unionized UPS drivers have a clear advancement trajectory, while Amazon drivers do not. At UPS, salaries increase significantly with seniority. The starting salary is $21 per hour and reaches almost $40 per hour for drivers with at least 10 years in the company, which represents more than half of the total.
At Amazon, starting wages are $17 an hour and do not increase with seniority. Almost half of the employees have been with the company for less than a year.
Between lower wages, more unstable schedules, fewer benefits and little legal protection, Amazon delivery drivers are struggling to make ends meet. More than one in four told us they went hungry in the past month due to not being able to buy enough food, and 33% said they were unable to pay their utility bills. Compared to UPS and FedEx delivery drivers, Amazon delivery drivers face significant financial instability.
Additionally, Amazon delivery drivers are subject to intense surveillance and speed control in the workplace, as are workers in the company’s distribution centers. 60% of both types of Amazon workers receive frequent feedback about the speed of their work through a technology device, and more than two-thirds said Amazon monitors the quality of their work through technology. This degree of surveillance and technological control far exceeds what UPS and FedEx workers told us they were exposed to, representing an extreme case of control and evaluation of job performance.
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The use of third-party delivery drivers contributed to Amazon’s exponential growth as a package delivery company. In 2023, Amazon surpassed UPS in number of deliveries for the first time, thus becoming the second largest parcel company in the country, only surpassed by the United States Postal Service.
By building an online retail empire with the ability to handle most of its own shipping, Amazon’s expansion continues. UPS, on the other hand, has seen declines in its revenue, stock value, and market capitalization. Amazon’s enormous size and its approach to independent work are therefore transforming industry standards, putting downward pressure on wages, benefits and job stability across the delivery sector.
The contrast between Amazon and UPS drivers is not limited to two companies using different models for package delivery; It represents two contrasting work futures. As the second-largest retailer and now the largest private delivery company in the United States, Amazon wields market power that impacts workers’ working conditions beyond its own delivery drivers. Recent reports indicate that UPS has been experimenting with the use of independent delivery, much to the dismay of the union that represents three-quarters of its workforce.
After World War II, increased unionization led to better wages and working conditions in much of the economy, including non-unionized sectors. The continued expansion of Amazon’s business model could signal widespread deterioration in wages, benefits, and worker protections.
*Daniel Schneider He is a Professor of Social Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; David Weil He is a professor at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University and the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.
This text was originally published in The Conversation
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