As its annual Prime Day shopping event kicked off in the US, Amazon asked corporate employees based in New York City to volunteer their time to help facilitate grocery-delivery operations.
The initiative aims to ease the pressure on Amazon Fresh, the company’s online grocery service, during what is expected to be one of the busiest weeks of the year.
Volunteers were requested to work two-hour shifts between 10 AM and 6 PM across multiple days.
Corporate workers, including engineers, marketing professionals, and other white-collar staff, were encouraged to sign up for volunteer shifts at a Brooklyn warehouse located in the Red Hook neighbourhood. The message, circulated within the office a day before Prime Day began, outlined roles such as picking items off shelves, packing orders, preparing delivery bags, and distributing refreshments to on-site teams.
While participation is optional, the company has called the effort an opportunity for corporate staff members to get closer to frontline operations and better understand the customer experience.
Conference rooms have been made available at the site so that volunteers can continue to attend virtual meetings or take calls during their shift breaks.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has turned to its internal workforce for support during major retail pushes. The company frequently scales up fulfilment operations for events such as Prime Day by hiring temporary staff or redistributing roles internally.
However, this move clearly shows that the company is trying hard to bring Amazon’s corporate and warehouse teams closer.
