Amazon Warehouse Workers on the Front Line

Amazon Warehouse Workers on the Front Line

April 26, 2020
David Little, Ph.D.

Amazon operates more than 175 distribution centers primarily in North America and Europe.  Warehouse workers are concerned about the virus impact on their health and their family’s health.

Amazon has experienced more demand given online sales have increased as many consumers are in self-isolation or working from home.  While Amazon looks to add 100,000 workers quickly and require many current employees to work overtime, the work conditions cannot honor the social distancing recommendations.  Amazon is performing more cleaning, but the fact remains that the nature of the work and the demand increase put workers at increased risk.

Video Spotlight: 

This post is based on the CNN article, Amazon warehouse workers fear catching coronavirus just to get you your packages, by Sara Ashley O’Brien and Nathaniel Meyersohn, March 20, 2020, and the YouTube videos in the Spotlight Continue reading →

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Productivity vs. Patient Safety at Walgreens and CVS

Productivity vs. Patient Safety at Walgreens and CVS

March 6, 2020
Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.

Tired employees at Walgreens and CVS are making mistakes that may threaten patient safety.

For some time, pharmacists have argued that understaffed and high-pace work environments are contributing to medication errors and compromising public safety. Management has challenged these allegations but is planning to review the standards used to evaluate pharmacists’ performance.

Video Spotlight: Medication Errors at 24-Hour Pharmacies

This post is based on The New York Times article, At Walgreens, Complaints of Medication Errors Go Missing, by E. Gabler, February 21, 2020, and the YouTube video, Prescription Drug Dispensing Errors Kill 100,000 People Per Year in US, by CBSDFW, May 14, 2018. Image source: fstop123/Getty Images.

Discussion Questions:

1. How do Walgreens and CVS try to ensure high levels of productivity from their pharmacists?

Guidance: The productivity index is measured by the ratio of output to input. In this article, the efforts mentioned to boost productivity involve a reduction of inputs through increased quantitative workload and multi-tasking. The high pace of work, lower staffing levels (e.g. elimination of overlapping pharmacists, reduced work hours for technicians), and longer hours contribute to quantitative overload. Answering the phone, filling drive-through and in-store orders, and giving flu shots Continue reading →

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