Amazon asks corporate workers to ‘volunteer’ help with grocery deliveries as Prime Day frenzy approaches
Corporate employees of Amazon were asked on Monday to volunteer their time to the company’s warehouses to assist with grocery delivery as it heads into its annual discount spree known as Prime Day,In a Slack message reviewed by the Guardian that went to thousands of white-collar workers in the New York City area from engineers to marketers, an Amazon area manager called for corporate “volunteers to help us out with Prime Day to deliver to customers on our biggest days yet”,It is not clear how many took up the offer,The ask came the day before Prime Day kicks off,The manager said volunteers are “needed” to work Tuesday through Friday this week, in two-hour shifts between 10am and 6pm in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the company operates a warehouse as part of its grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh.
Corporate employees seconded to the warehouse would be tasked with picking items, preparing carts and bags of groceries for delivery, packing boxes on receiving carts, and working to “boost morale with distribution of snacks”, though they would be allowed to step into a conference room to take meetings and calls, according to the message.The manager noted such an effort would help “connect” warehouse and corporate teams.Amazon routinely hires thousands of extra warehouse workers in advance of its annual Prime Day sale, which sees the massive online retailer discount thousands of goods, creating a surge in orders and demand for delivery.Amazon Fresh, available to Prime subscribers but separate from Amazon subsidiary Whole Foods, is also offering discounts this week during Prime Day, such as a free 90-day trial of the delivery services and $30 off of deliveries for current members, while maintaining its same-day or next-day delivery service.New York is one of Amazon’s busiest areas in the US.
An Amazon spokesperson, Griffin Buch, said this is not the first time “grocery corporate” employees have been “invited to volunteer” with fulfillment,“This support is entirely optional, and it allows corporate employees to get closer to customers while enabling our store teams to focus on the work that’s most impactful,” Buch said,Amazon Fresh has faced turbulence in recent years,Amid cost-cutting efforts in 2023 and a struggle to turn a profit on grocery delivery, CEO Andy Jassy closed several physical Amazon Fresh locations and laid off hundreds of employees in the segment,Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees overall since cost-cutting efforts began in 2022.
A week ago, Jassy spoke on CNBC of a future at Amazon where drones and even robots were used to fulfill and deliver goods to people.Sign up to TechScapeA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesafter newsletter promotion“Over time, as we expand the use of robotics in our fulfillment centers, we will have robots doing fulfillment and transportation for us,” he said.
Labour MPs alarmed by rise in sponsored events arranged by party
Labour MPs have privately raised alarm at the number of sponsored corporate receptions for backbenchers that have been arranged by the party, amid concerns about perceived conflicts of interest.MPs have received invitations for networking receptions that include explicit advertisements for property developers or public affairs firms. The invitations are sent to MPs directly from the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) office and forwarded by party whips.“The PLP office has literally become a public affairs agency,” one MP said. “The wording is genuinely shocking
Starmer and Macron agree that ‘new deterrent’ needed to stop small boats, No 10 says – as it happened
Downing Street has issued a statement about Keir Starmer’s talks with Emmanuel Macron over lunch today. It says the PM and the president agreed that “a new deterrent” was needed to stop the small boat crossings.This seems to be a reference to the idea of a “one in, one out” returns scheme, which would involve migrants arriving illegally in the UK being swiftly returned to France, but with the UK also agreeing to take in an equivalent number of migratns based in France who are claiming asylum in the UK. Starmer is said to be urging Macron to accept a deal of this sort, but Macron has reportedly been resisting, and the idea is unpopular with some other European countries. Last month Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta wrote to the European commission complaining that such a scheme could incentivise even more irregular migration into southern Europe
Another mediocre stalemate at PMQs as neither Kemi nor Keir bother to engage | John Crace
Spare a thought for Rachel Reeves. After last week’s mini-meltdown during prime minister’s questions, the chancellor is now condemned to spend the next year grinning manically every time she’s out and about in public. Having a bad day at the office? GRIN. Had a row with the kids? GRIN. Now there is no escape
Caught between the Senedd and Westminster, Welsh Labour risks collapsing loyalty
Playing Tom Jones and Catatonia at the decks and later taking to the dancefloor wrapped in a Welsh flag, Eluned Morgan, at least, was having a good time at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno last month.But almost a year into the job as first minister of the Labour government in the Senedd, working alongside a Labour administration in Westminster, the party arguably does not have much to make a song and dance about.For 100 years, the Welsh have been Labour’s most loyal voters, and they have returned the party to government in Cardiff since devolution almost 27 years ago. But poll after poll now says Labour’s base has collapsed and the party will come third in the Senedd elections next May, after Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. In Westminster, the worry is the Welsh elections will prove a bellwether for the next general election in 2029
MPs and peers make awkward small talk during wait for box-office hit Macron
It wasn’t quite the Pyramid stage. When the queen, the pope, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama were invited to address both houses of parliament, they were given Westminster Hall. On the first state visit of any European leader since Brexit, Emmanuel Macron had to make do with the Royal Gallery. The UK has been on quite the journey since Liz Truss was unable to identify the French president as friend or foe.Still, the Royal Gallery is not a bad second-best
Macron tells UK parliament that Europe must end its dependency on the US and China – as it happened
Macron says European countries must end their “excessive dependencies on both the US and China”.He suggests China’s use of subsidies are a threat to fair trade.And he says that President Trump’s trade war is also an attack on WTO rules.He says the European democratic model is as under threat from “foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media”.UPDATE: Macron said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China
Sinner eases past Shelton in straight sets to seal Wimbledon semi-final spot
Sportswomen facing ‘horrific burden of routine misogynistic attacks and threats’, campaigners say
‘He’s very determined’: England look to Archer before pivotal third Test
Tour de France 2025: Evenepoel wins stage five time trial as Pogacar takes yellow jersey –as it happened
Tour de France 2025: Evenepoel wins time trial as Pogacar powers into yellow
Battling Norrie and Kartal light way for British tennis after Draper’s damp squib | Tumaini Carayol