AMAZON in CZECH REPUBLIC 
- not the best reputation
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The giant AMAZON has in Czechia a logistic center.

However Amazon does not focus on the Czech market, so the Czechs can only buy on Amazon through German sites, which leads to delays and relatively high prices. Czech companies focused on foreign markets sell through Amazon, but it is much more difficult for them in global competition than on local marketplaces such as ALZA or MALL.

One example of Amazon price:
set of inks for Brother printer  - Amazon = 74 euro
                                                Czech online shop =  56 euro

Amazon logistic center is situated in Dobrovíz - however Amazon did not come to this place to  help with employment here, but to be as close as possible to the motorway to Germany. The Amazon center is situated a few kilometers from western border of Praha and is suitable for transport of the goods to Germany.
 Therefore employees  are brought by buses from socially weaker Czech regions, but they do not develop services, infrastructure or community ties in their place of residence. At the same time, importing unfamiliar people from different municipalities makes it difficult for employees to organize each other and thus makes it easier for Amazon to successfully campaign against the trade union.

The pandemic year 2020 was marked by record growth for Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos. In the most successful third quarter so far this year, Amazon reported a 37% increase in sales compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, the personal fortune of Bezos, the richest man in the world, has climbed by 70 billion US dollars to the current 186 billion between October 2019 and November 2020, according to Forbes. Thus, the owner of the Washington Post newspaper, the American Whole Foods chain and the private company focused on space flights Blue Origin achieved a fortune worth more than twice the amount of this year's coronavirus inflated expenses of the Czech Republic.

What is the reputation of Jeff Bezos  among Amazon's Czech employees?  Is he spoken of with respect, like some mythical figure? "Rather, we make fun of him." says one of the women who worked for Amazon for about three years.
The uniform guidelines on working and salary conditions in all Amazon distribution centers come directly from the company's headquarters in Seattle, USA, which supposedly prefers to have control over all centers. Thus, not everything is always uniform: for example, when Seattle instructed to pay all workers in distribution centers a Coronavirus bonus of $ 500, the Czechs received just over half of this amount. Also, the hourly wage of 160 crowns per hour for Czech warehouse workers is about half lower than for German ones, who receive about 12 euros per hour.Anyhow this wage is about at least 15 % lower than the average in Czechia. But Polish people, on the contrary, receive still less than the Czechs. 

During the corona pandemics Mandatory spacing is carefully monitored by the cameras. After all, the visitor is warned about the extensive camera system many times, for the first time already at the entrance.
Any breach of the two-metre clearance shall be recorded."Employees know that cameras are watching them. They also know that violations of any rules set by Amazon will be followed by disciplinary action.
In a 10-hour shift, employees normally have two breaks of 15 minutes; in a Coronavirus pandemic, this is five minutes more.In addition to two breaks, employees are entitled, of course, to a lunch break, exactly 30 minutes. They work 40 hours a week - 4 days.

It is said that no one is a prophet at home. In this case, it can be turned around -

not every businessman is a prophet  at the other end of the world.

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         Thanks for reading

                                               Margaret