Working for Netflix at a Shipping Center

A Netflix employee (who wants to remain anonymous) sent me some notes about his job and the Netflix hiring process. This employee works at a shipping center as a DVD Inspector.

What I do at my job is is called rental return. We receive those post office tubs filled with DVDs that cutomers send back. All of us log in, meaning we log into the computer to time us, so it's called a time keeper. We then rip open the mailers, removing the DVD and looking for customer notes, matching the title on the sleeve with the DVD title, crack, scratches, and lastly, if the sleeve needs relabeling. We have small boxes in front of us so we can put the DVDs in there according to what we need to look out for when inspecting it like when there is customer notes, we put in the customer note box, etc... We check the DVDs real fast and must do it accurately. After that, we log out to finish timing us. After all that's done, we get a 30 min break.

After the break, full time employees will go straight to relabeling. For the part timers, they ship. I'll explain that later. For the relabeling, those are from rental returns and they have coffee stains, writings, torned up sleeves, etc...  There is like a huge black printer box and a computer running Windows 2000 in front of us. We scan the barcode and the sticker that's for the sleeve comes out and then we get those new sleeves and stick the label on it. After relabeling, we go to shipping. Our manager does the sorter (the machine that look really long) and what ever comes out from the specific columns, it goes to the green trays and it goes to us to stuff it in the Netflix mailers. For me, I usually get 5 green trays (about 320 DVDs in one green tray) in front of me. Then more green trays will come. When I'm in a good mood, I can do 3 trays in one hour and that's really possible to do. My setup that's on my station is all of the stuff is close to me so that I don't waste time reaching out for something I need. Every second counts since were being timed.

After working at Netflix for a while, it starts to get boring and it really brings your emotion down since there's not many interactions with your fellow coworkers, like for me, sometimes I feel really shitty after shipping for about three and a half hours and that's why I try to do many talking, walking during our breaks. We can talk during shipping cause our manager don't mind and we can talk very, very little during rental return cause we need to concentrate on inspecting the DVDs at a fast pace. After every hour for rental return and for shipping, we do stretches. Each one of us take turns saying the type of stretches and doing the counting. After all that crap, we get to go home and then be sleeping early at night and do all the sameting over again, YAY!!!!!

Me and my coworkers also do the sweeping at the sorter. Whatever discs comes out from whatever columns, we sweep out the DVDs and put them in their own box. We also do what's called tabbing. Whenever you get your red mailers from the mailbox and you notice that there is a small sticker on top of the mailers. It's there so the mailers don't open up during shipment. We stand in front of the tabbing machine and feed the mailers and put all the finished ones in the tubs and put it on the rack for our manager to take those mailers and run them thru the sorter to be address printed and scanning the bar codes.

For us, Mondays and Tuesdays are the heaviest. We finish about 11:30am. Whenever there's a holiday, Martin Luther is coming up next week Monday, on the third day from the holiday we get slammed. About 75 tubs filled with mailers come to us. That's why I usually volunteered to bring lunch for the guys and gals and most of the time I bring my iPod nano(1st gen, black) to listen to some podcasts. That's right, we have women in the building. There was like 2 women was sitting in front of me, and when I first was working here, I was like WOAH!!! These ladies can move really fast.

This is part of the original "DVD Inspector" job description:

Considered "full time" position but works out to approx. 30 hours a week. Opening envelopes, inspecting the condition of DVD being returned, recording the DVD by scanning barcode into computer, and preparing mailer with new DVD. Will be making repetitive actions for extended periods of time with limited outside contact during work hours. Temp to hire position with limited advancement possibilities.

Position Requirements:

Must work an early morning schedule - position starts at X:30 a.m. [very early - Mike] Monday through Friday. Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment. Must remain focused on job requirements. Ability to handle repetitive actions for extended periods of time, while maintaining a high degree on speed and accuracy. Ability to work an uncertain schedule with the expectation work working approx. 30 hours a week. Monday and Tuesday will be the heaviest work schedule days. Must have basic English language skills in order to read and understand instructions and customer notes. Must have reliable transportation, since position starts at X:30 a.m. and the location is NOT on a bus line.

Here's his account of the hiring process:

I went to a job search website and I was searching for "Computers, Video editing, Electronics, Circuit City, CompUSA, DVD," When I typed out that last word "DVD" there was a list that showed about authoring your DVDs, selling DVDs, but the one that caught my eye was listed as "DVD Inspector."

After what I read and stuff and liked it, I contacted this person, but they were away from the desk. To keep anonymity of this person, I'll use Mrs. ----. On the job search site, I sent my resume and I got a confirmation email (auto response) from the job site saying that they have gotten my resume and I'll be contacted soon. On Monday, I got a call from the staffing firm. One of the ladies. Mrs. ---- asked me if I could go down to the staffing office to do some talking and do paperwork. I met Mrs. ---- and she's very kind. It's like they really want you to have a job or something, lol. Mrs. ---- was looking at my resume and she asked why I wanted this job since I have computer background listed on my resume. I told Mrs. ---- that even though I have computer background I just want to experience a job that sounds fun and my previous job was giving me the troubles. After that, she told about the staffing company and later I told her about myself and then she goes on about describing the job. After the job description, I did all the necessary paperwork and  I was surprised that I didn't have to do the drug test. About 1 1/2 hours, I get to go home. On the next day, Tuesday, I got a call from Mrs. ---- again saying that I'll be starting work next week Monday and I was like hooray!!!

Before Monday comes, on the weekend, I did a test run on finding the place cause Mrs. ---- said that this place is hidden so thieves won't come to this place to steal tons and tons of DVDs. I finally found the place after so many u turns that I had to make cause I keep missing the left turn. Monday is finally here and that's when you get to meet your manager, team leader and your fellow associates. My team leader showed me what goes on and after rental return, me and my team leader did the orientation and after that I did shipping and that was it.

Note: The story was edited to help protect the identity of the employee.

Comments

[Lamarr Wilson]

Absolutely incredible details. I enjoyed the read.

I don't blame the staffer for asking him WHY he wanted this job when he had a computer background. Little did the employee know that this job wouldn't be as "fun" as he anticipated.

It's a nice look into how Netflix works. It kinda reminds me of my UPS experience as an unloader. Not much training, just an orientation, and go do it!

[slobone]

Yeah, great stuff, thanks for posting!

So does this mean that NF distribution centers don't have signs out front? Interesting.

And what are these notes customers put in the envelopes? "This DVD is defective"? I thought you did that over the phone or online. Maybe it's "Dear studio, please don't make anymore sequels to The Matrix"...

PS Does anybody know why checking the "Keep me logged in for 2 weeks" box on TypeKey doesn't work for me? I have to re-login at least once every 2-3 days.

[Ricklogic]

Not quite as good as a toll booth job but, at least, there is less direct exposure to pollution.

If they are getting several half-hour breaks during the day that means the work itself really stinks. Would you want to open, inspect, and stuff all day?

Reed Hastings made hundreds of millions in the software business with highly skilled software developers and today he has hundreds of day laborers working for him.

And he makes 2 or 3 hundred thousand dollars a week selling his stock options. Capitalism at its best.

Speaking of pollution, his physical DVD rental model, which involves round trips for each DVD, of course, is generating tons of carbon emissions. Espacially since he does it on an unlimited, overnight basis. Good job, Reed!

[Firstlawofnature]

"Speaking of pollution, his physical DVD rental model, which involves round trips for each DVD, of course, is generating tons of carbon emissions."

Highly concentrated deliveries via common carrier many of which are on foot beat the pants off BMWs + pickups driving to the store. Anyway online/downloads chew plenty of bandwith which in turn fires up the power plants a bit more. Good luck on staying green doing leisure activities.

[prozac]

Interesting read...i think it was here that I saw some fotage of a Netflix facility were they were doing what was talked about here.

"PS Does anybody know why checking the "Keep me logged in for 2 weeks" box on TypeKey doesn't work for me? I have to re-login at least once every 2-3 days"-Ricklogic

Same here...I have no idea why?

[prozac]

Interesting read...i think it was here that I saw some fotage of a Netflix facility were they were doing what was talked about here.

"PS Does anybody know why checking the "Keep me logged in for 2 weeks" box on TypeKey doesn't work for me? I have to re-login at least once every 2-3 days"-Ricklogic

Same here...I have no idea why?

[longklaw]

Very interesting! I've wondered about how those distribution centers operate.

[Hunter McDaniel]

Working at the NF shipping center sounds pretty boring, but it's certainly no sweatshop; I don't think Reed Hastings needs to feel guilty about it. Many of the undesirable features (early hours, really busy Tuesdays) are the inevitable result of what we subscribers want from the service. And one has to remember that people takes these jobs because their other opportunities are LESS desirable.

As Firstlawofnature pointed out, DVD by mail is a lot more energy efficient than video stores. By the same token, buying "locally grown food" saves little energy because the biggest expenditure is from the store to the customer's house, not from the farm/factory to the store. Locally grown may taste better, but that's a different issue.

[hawk5391]

This was really interesting to read -- I thank the person who submitted it.

As for the typekey issues, I have also encountered this problem of having to log in every 2-3 days. I thought it was because sometimes I post at work and other times at home, but maybe not. Hmmm, maybe I should start hackingtypekey.com?

[CJ]

Interesting read. Reminds me of my college dorm food service job 40 years ago - where you started at the dish washing machine and worked your way up. A fun attitude, perfect attendance, and being the fastest "silverware sorter" they'd ever seen, earned me quick promotion to "meal ticket checker" (and subsequently many, many dates!). So maybe there is also hope for the entry level NF DVD inspector.

BTW - I have always use post-em notes on the NF DVD sleeves to succinctly point out any problems with that DVD - the front line guys are the ones who pull the defective DVDs so you don't end up get that DVD by mistake.

[type-cast]

"Does anybody know why checking the "Keep me logged in for 2 weeks" box on TypeKey doesn't work for me? I have to re-login at least once every 2-3 days."

Try every 20-30 minutes. Typepad sucks. They always have, and always will. Half the time, Mozilla won't remember my password so I have to hit "Sign In" repeatedly to get the thing to work. "Keep me logged in for 2 weeks" has never worked, either. What a crummy service.

[EssJay]

re: "Not quite as good as a toll booth job..."

Oddly, I find toll booth people exceptionally friendly. We interact for what, 15 seconds, maybe 30, and they are almost always cheerful to me.

I think the job would make me cranky and irritable, but they always surprise me with a pleasant, "Hello".

Distribution Centers versus Corporate

Fast Company.com
High-tech Achiever: Netflix
At Netflix, the secret sauce is software.
From: Issue 99 | October 2005 | Page 48 | By: Jena McGregor
… Warehouse workers--those closest to the customer--get free Netflix subscriptions and DVD players…
Corporate employees stay happy...with perks like no hard limits on vacation time and free trips to Sundance each January. …

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/99/open_customer-netflix.html

[Edward R Murrow]

Quote from the Fast Company article (dated 2005?) "Right now, Hastings, the founder and CEO of Netflix, the online DVD subscription service, has seven movies at home, ranging from Z Channel, a documentary about the first pay-cable channel, to the cult phenom Donnie Darko. He loved chick flick Fried Green Tomatoes but hated the Guy Ritchie heist film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

Of course he loved the chick flick and hated the guy movie 'cause he's a girlie-man.

[Ricklogic]

The New York Times (nytimes.com)
June 7, 2006
DAVID LEONHARDT
What Netflix Could Teach Hollywood
…In the San Francisco area, Netflix trucks pick up returned DVD's from post offices by 4 a.m. each weekday morning and bring them to a warehouse in a leafy Sunnyvale office park. There, workers — mainly Asian and Latino immigrants — arrive on the brightly lighted warehouse floor at 5 a.m. to begin tearing open the red envelopes and putting the discs in mechanized sorters...

What is Netflix teaching Hollywood? To hire non-union day laborers at minimum wage?

The minimum wage hike may have an effect on Netflix.

[dizzney]

I doubt the wage hike will affect Netflix as it is not in San Francisco where the minimum wage is going up. Every permanent employee warehouse or not get a free DVD player and subscription.

[gir]

I was under the impression that NetFlix starting wage was well above minimum, like $9/hr.

[Waveflux]

"And what are these notes customers put in the envelopes? "This DVD is defective"?"

Slobone: In my case, I wrote a note asking Netflix to stop sending me the wrong movie. I'd selected the 1959 The Mummy (Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing) and twice in a row Netflix sent instead a 1997 abomination titled Bram Stoker's The Mummy (Lloyd Bochner, Louis Gossett, Jr.!!).

The third time was the charm.

[dizzney]

They do make more than minimum wage. Other people who work elsewhere such as Customer Service make significantly more. Just depends on what dept you work in.

[dizzney]

The warehouse workers do make more than minimum wage and the other people in Customer Service and other areas other than the warehouse make more than the warehouse workers.