When Chris goes to work at Amazon Australia’s Brisbane fulfilment centre, he considers himself lucky – because he gets to work with his best mate, who just happens to be his dad, Arthur.
The father-son duo started working together in the second half of 2020, both helping to ‘receive’ products from sellers around Australia and the world into the warehouse ready for customers to purchase, and Chris couldn’t be happier about it.
“I’m very close with my dad,” says Chris. “We actually work in the same department, so I’m with him all day, we have lunch together and we have all our breaks together. I get to spend the whole day with him!”
The family had recently moved back to Australia after a 10-year stint living in the US while Chris’ sister pursued a tennis career.
“We were just along for the ride, enjoying our time in America and then COVID-19 hit,” Chris’ dad Arthur, explains. “We thought it was time to come home.”
For Arthur and Chris, taking shared pride in their work is a daily highlight. “There’s even more respect now that we see each other working hard - and my wife’s proud of us too!” Arthur explains.
As well as working together, they also enjoy the diversity of the team working at Amazon.
“I was so excited to be taken on,” Arthur says. “At my age, it can be very hard to find employment. I’ve noticed Amazon takes on people from all different backgrounds, all different ages, it’s very multicultural and everyone gets along.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Andrew, who at 52 brings a wealth of knowledge to his role supporting the team who are picking and packing customer orders at the Sydney fulfillment centre.
“Age isn’t a barrier at Amazon,” he says. “I've been in warehousing and warehouse management for about 20 years. I'm a lot older than a lot of my leadership group – my daughter is closer in age to a few of them!”
Like Arthur, Andrew was over the moon when he realised he had the opportunity to work with one of his kids – in his case, daughter Eevee, who followed in her dad’s footsteps about a year after he started working at Amazon.
Eevee and her dad have always enjoyed spending time together, and share a special bond over riding for the Pink Ribbon Ride, helping to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Institute at Westmead. Eevee says the decision to apply for a job at Amazon was made an easy one knowing it came with her Dad’s recommendation. “I knew Dad was really enjoying his work, and he’s had a lot of experience in warehouses,” she explains.
“I could see that as soon as I started at Amazon, that it would be a good job – and even though we don’t always work the same hours I’m so glad to be working with him. Everyone there is really friendly and supportive so it’s been great.”
