Amazon withdrew two job advertisements for "intelligence analysts" claiming the posts would involve reports of union activity among workers. In a statement to the BBC, the American company said the wording "was not an accurate description of the role" and has since been corrected.
However, the BBC was unable to find new versions of the ads.
A business consultant said it seemed like a mistake and should never have been written.
The announcement from a Phoenix-based intelligence analyst was released this week and said, "Analysts must be able to engage and inform ... interested parties on sensitive topics that are highly confidential, including threats of organization of work against the company ".
Previous desired experiences included "an officer from the intelligence community, the military, law enforcement or a global security related role in the private sector."
There was a similar job list for a senior intelligence analyst, which was also removed.
Both pages now display an error message saying the content has disappeared.
Initially, Amazon indicated that it was standard practice for large companies to have employees carry out this task.
But overnight the ads were withdrawn. Amazon later stated, "The job posting was not an accurate description of the role - it was written in error and has since been corrected."
Marianne Rawlins, dean of business consultancy Bradley Risk Management, told the BBC: "The job description involves job spying, and this has been illegal in the US for 80 years. I expect it to be unfortunately quite common among big companies. society, but putting it into practice is in black and white so that the whole world can see it seems like a mistake ".
Surveillance technology
Amazon has made it clear that it doesn't want its warehouse workers to join unions, saying it prefers to speak directly with them about any concerns they may have.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted some workers to assert their rights. One example was asking for clearer guidance on whether to take more frequent bathroom breaks to wash hands, which can be considered part of a productivity monitoring known as a time off task (TOT).
Amazon said it told workers in March that TOT would not include hand washing. But some workers say they weren't informed until July, when a court case over workers' rights during the pandemic began.
A report from the Open Markets Institute suggested that the company used "security cameras integrated with sophisticated artificial intelligence to monitor and track employee movements."
And it indicated that article scanners "also count the number of seconds between each task assigned to the worker."
"When employees lag behind Amazon's chosen productivity rate, software in scanners scold employees for spending too much time off work, including issuing alerts and even employee termination."
In response to the OMI report, Amazon told the BBC: "Like most companies, we have performance expectations for every Amazonian, whether it's a corporate employee or a fulfillment center associate - and we measure actual performance against to such expectations.
"Associate performance is measured and evaluated over a long period of time as we know that a variety of things could affect the ability to meet expectations on any given day or hour. We support people who do not perform at expected levels with coaching dedicated to helping them improve ".
Vice said internal reports suggest Amazon is also spying on closed Facebook groups to identify potential problems among workers.
Amazon fired two workers in April after they publicly denounced the company's treatment of warehouse workers during the pandemic. He said he has repeatedly violated internal policies, which prevent employees from commenting on his business without approval.
And in March, warehouse worker Christian Smalls - who had organized a protest against the company's safety precautions - was fired. A leaked memo from one of Amazon's attorneys later surfaced suggesting that Mr. Smalls "wasn't smart, or articulate" and should be made the face of the entire union movement as a result.
