Page 9 - RedFlagJune14

REDFLAG.ORG.AU PUBLICATION OF SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE 14 JUNE 2021 | REDFLAG

9

Amazon’s Zen booths the

latest in ‘mindfulness’ bullshit

Roxanne Kelly can boost profits by
85 to 95 million euros.
Another quantifiable
result: SAP’s strong
mazon’s latest employee wellness first-quarter results
initiative—the installation of “Ama- for 2018 and its steadi-
Zen mindful practice rooms” in its ly rising performance
warehouses—could easily have been in the New York Stock
A something from the Netflix sci-fi se- Exchange, especially
ries Black Mirror. It has exactly the balance of the in recent years.”
familiar (anyone who has been subject to faddish There may of
“employee wellness” programs will recognise the course be marginal
grift) and the sinister (in the “mindful practice benefits for workers
room”, can anyone hear you scream?). taking part in these
Perhaps, however, the concept is too lame. The programs. Having a
plot lines of Black Mirror generally involve the break from the daily
use of new technologies for dystopian ends. An grind, even if it’s just
AmaZen booth is the kind of thing you might get to undertake bullshit
if you asked a group of year nine science students mindfulness exercises,
to build a Black Mirror-like dystopian technology can help reduce stress
out of materials gathered from hard rubbish. temporarily. But cor-
The rooms, which aren’t much bigger than porate mindfulness of-
a coffin, are equipped with a swivel chair and One of Amazon's fers no solutions to the
pictures of clouds pasted to the ceiling. Inside, new 'mindful main sources of work-
employees can watch short positive affirmation practice rooms' ing-class stress: job
and guided meditation videos. PHOTO: Amazon insecurity, low wages
The introduction of the AmaZen booths is and being worked like
part of Amazon’s broader WorkingWell program. a machine. In fact, the
Other program absurdities include “Wellness mindfulness industry is designed to prevent these
Zones”, areas in warehouses set aside for workers Instead of correctly issues being addressed.
to do stretches, and “Mindful Moments”, hourly Instead of correctly placing the blame for
prompts from the workstation surveillance tech- placing the blame bad working conditions on the bosses, corporate
nology directing employees through breathing mindfulness teaches us that stress is a product of
exercises and mental reflections. for bad working inadequate mental resilience. With mindfulness
Unsurprisingly, there has been a backlash. Am- (so the theory goes), we can take these stressful
azon quickly pulled its promotional video from conditions on the thoughts, place them on an imaginary leaf, and
Twitter after replies pointing out that the booths send them floating down a calm, trickling stream.
looked like “cry closets” or “tiny capitalism panic bosses, corporate After unburdening ourselves from our own minds,
rooms”. More generally, Amazon’s attempted re- we can get back to working harder than ever.
branding as a wellness employer isn’t convincing mindfulness teaches In the case of Amazon, the launch of the
anyone. After all, the company puts so much pres- WorkingWell program couldn’t be more transpar-
sure on employees that some reportedly resort to us that stress is a ently associated with concerns about workplace
pissing in bottles in an effort to meet stringent organising. Over the last few years, there have
productivity quotas. product of inadequate been staff walkouts at Amazon facilities in the US,
Amazon is not the only business to introduce the UK and Europe during the annual Prime Day
bullshit “employee wellness” schemes. Corporate mental resilience. sales event. In March, up to 75 percent of Amazon’s
wellness initiatives have boomed in the last de- logistics workers in Italy went on strike. There was
cade, particularly in white-collar workplaces. A also an attempt by Amazon workers in Bessemer,
2018 US National Business Group on Health survey Tan—has since been spun off into an independent Alabama, to unionise.
of 163 companies found that 52 percent offered Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIY- Unlike corporate mindfulness training,
some form of mindfulness training to employees, LI). SIYLI offers “transformational experiences workplace organising has tangible benefits that
up from 36 percent the year before. backed by world experts in neuroscience, mind- go well beyond a momentary reduction in stress.
Not all such initiatives are as sinister as Am- fulness and emotional intelligence” and boasts This was illustrated in the aftermath of the vote in
azon’s “cry closets”. They range from bog-stan- clients in more than 50 countries. Bessemer, when Amazon worker and union activ-
dard one day “mindfulness and resilience” pro- What all such programs have in common, ist Jennifer Bates gave a speech that, despite her
fessional development programs to much more beneath the warm and fuzzy rhetoric, is the disappointment at the lost vote, exuded the kind
elaborate affairs. promise of improved health and wellbeing, not for of joy, confidence and determination that could
Intel’s Awake@Intel program, for example, employees, but for business bottom lines. For ex- never be achieved through guided meditation.
offers employees the chance to participate in a ample, take SIYLI’s account of the positive impact “Victory will come. Not just here in Birming-
ten-week mindfulness and meditation course that of mindfulness training at German multinational ham or Bessemer, but around this nation”, Bates
promises a “better self at work and beyond”. A post software company SAP: said. “The fire has started. Burn, let it burn!” And
on the “WeAreIntel” blog, written by Intel’s content “For starters, the training has boosted em- she is right: the fire started in Bessemer is spread-
marketing manager, effused that the mindfulness ployee engagement and reduced absenteeism. ing, with union activists now targeting another
it teaches “not only helps to manage stress, but According to SAP’s calculations, a 1 percentage major Amazon warehouse in New York. As these
also to develop laser-like focus for efficiency and point increase in employee engagement corre- workers get organised, in addition to winning bet-
productivity inside and outside of the company”. sponds to anywhere from 50 to 60 million euros in ter wages and conditions, some might find inner
Google’s Search Inside Yourself program—cre- operating profit. At the same time, a 1 percentage peace by taking to one of the AmaZen booths with
ated in 2007 by company engineer Chade-Meng point increase in its business health culture index a sledgehammer. Namaste.