Life and Death in the Warehouse

Life and Death in the Warehouse is a hard-hitting drama about what life is like for the thousands of workers inside the massive online retail warehouses. Tragically it is all too real with toilet breaks, conversations and 'pick rates' constantly measured and failing leads to ruthless off-boarding (sacking). The management's passive aggression and gaslighting is a like a constant smack in the face. I'm certain this will spark conversations about working conditions. Congratulations to the writer Helen Black and all the cast and crew involved in making this drama. It was brilliant and deserves all the awards.

....online shopping. These companies are too big and powerful to control. If staff refused to endure these conditions they would have to come in line with every other British company. But that is NEVER going to happen.

Watching this, I was reminded of reading about Soviet style encouragements to greater productivity. The hardest workers were paraded and lauded as an example to the comrades, while those considered "lazy", were the victims of oppressive behaviour by the supervisors. All the time, the Communist Party, were the beneficiary of what might be analagous to "Customer Focussed" attention, that kept rearing it's ugly head throughout this film.

Ever wondered why these sort of businesses set up in depressed areas? A frightened workforce is a compliant workforce, and most here were complicit. Just as in the days of Soviet Labour, in todays so called market economy, fear and useful idiots are the business drivers.

Harrowingly good, so honest. Makes you feel guilty using Amazon et al. Brilliant script, great cast. Craig Parkinson especially good as the sinister manager 'devoted to the customer and the team'. Let's hope the BBC repeat it in a much more prominent slot. Deserves at least one BAFTA award too.

..in the meantime, the politicians are collecting, sorry, accepting funds for reelection campaign and/or whatever "philanthropic" foundation their chairs, from oligarchs, sorry again (those are the Russians), I meant, our billionaires, you know the regular one-percenters, while making sure that the loopholes in tax legislations remain open and accessible for those "poor" billionaires. What is really shocking is that we are still voting for the same bobbleheads.