Amazon ‘ambassadors’ program pays workers to be positive on Twitter

Select workers at Amazon warehouses — or fulfillment centers — are part of a campaign to tweet positively about their employer as a response to criticisms about working conditions.

The campaign, which began last August, sparked renewed criticism after a Twitter back-and-forth between one user and accounts that appear to be from Amazon warehouse workers went viral on Thursday.

“Fulfillment center ambassadors,” as they’re called internally, are warehouse employees who “share facts based on personal experience,” Amazon spokeswoman Lindsay Campbell told USA TODAY.

“It’s important that we do a good job educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers,” Campbell said.

Amazon confirmed the account of one worker, Cindi, as an example of an ambassador to USA TODAY. 

These ambassadors can be identified by their first name. Their Twitter biographies usually list their position and location, the duration of their employment with Amazon, and a few of their hobbies. 

Sometimes, they tweet about work — taking a “break with my friends at work,” as Cindi tweeted.

Much of their Twitter activity, however, is responding to criticisms about the company’s practices.

In response to a tweeted complaint using the hashtag #BoycottAmazon that claimed Amazon prioritizes “profits over people,” Cindi tweeted: “I haven’t felt that way during my time here. I (feel) that I’m valued as an employee.”

In addition to the ambassador program, Amazon offers free tours of its fulfillment centers, said Campbell.

“This year alone, more than 100,000 guests have come to see for themselves what it’s like to work inside one of our FCs,” she said

The program was created last August, reported Business Insider, as a way to improve the company’s reputation after reports of workers urinating in bottles to save time or losing their jobs after not meeting a mandated quota.

Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter:@joshua_bote