Labor relations in the last mile sector of Amazon Brazil: platforms, neo-Toyotism, and outsourcing

Katiuscia Moreno Galhera, Neusa Maria Dal Ri, Karina Pinhão and Rebecca Ruíz

Chapter 10 in Unpacking Global Amazon, 2026, pp 261-285 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The main aim of this chapter is to analyze labor relations in large transnational corporations in Latin America, specifically the delivery sector (last mile) of the multinational corporation Amazon, in Brazil (2022–23). The methodological procedures include bibliographical review, desk and empirical research—including the systematization of labor processes and interviews with stakeholders. The results of this research indicate that a large share of jobs in the last mile sector at Amazon are organized through digital platforms, reflecting a broader process of platformization or uberization of work—although it includes a wider range of labor statuses, from a large informal situation of outsourced workers, to formal statuses in a few companies, and other well-established public employees in the publicly owned post office (Correios). In general, although a small segment of workers benefit from relatively stable and formal contracts such as the post office’s, employees are poorly paid through piecework, have informal jobs, and work overtime under a neo-Toyotist system of control and management. The multinational diversifies commercial partnerships in the delivery sector, taking advantage of national contexts in the last mile: in the case of Brazil, informality and platformization or uberization of work.

Keywords: Amazon; Corporation; Transnational Corporations; Labor and Employment Relations; Last Mile Logistics; Platform Work; Neo-Toyotism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035380442
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