It seems ISS hires anyone who passes the drug and background checks. The new hires don't always understand you actually have to WORK to meet production targets, not just exist in the environment for your 10 hour shift. Yes most positions are 10 hours per day, four days on, three days off. You need to be physically prepared for the walking ( 5-15 miles per night depending on your assignment) and repetive motion. I was not.
While water is provided everywhere in the warehouse it is also the only fluid allowed in the warehouse. ISS provides gater aid "shots" to anyone who wants them but they are outside the security chekpoints. This makes it impractical to refill the "shots" each time you refill your water bottle simply because of time restraints. The water only restriction combined with the 80-90 degree work environment makes it so much more difficult. While there are large fans hung from the ceiling every so often 3 out of 4 have not been wired in and thus do not work.
The time restraints are important since expected production, after two weeks training, in the STOW department is 240 small items (paperbacks) placed in shelves every hour or 135 large items ( football helmets, large books, coffee makers, etc) placed in shelves every hour. For the small items thats one every 15 seconds average. Going to the work area after swiping in, doing the shift start exercises (yeah just like gym class), getting the totes, going to the bathroom, refilling your water bottle, etc. all count against the production averages.
Your initial temp work contract is for 1200 hours (including all overtime). If by the end of your 1200 hour contract you have not been converted by Amazon to a direct employee you MUST LEAVE THE SITE FOR 90 DAYS after which you can reapply to ISS again.
The work site is HUGE and includes multiple parking lots. I found that I needed to get to the parking lot a full hour in advance to avoid walking the 1/4 mile from the closest auxilary parkinig lot to the building.
