Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

Linda May turns sixty-three in 2013, when she begins working as a campground host for the first time for $8.50 per hour, 30 hours per week. She enjoys not working for Home Depot and the independence that comes with living and working in the wilderness. The summer season is slow and easy until August when an illegal campfire sparks the third-largest wildfire in California history, eventually forcing Linda’s work to come to an early end.

Later that year, she drives to Fernley’s Amazon warehouse to join CamperForce for the holiday season. Linda is not deterred by headlines published as early as 2011 detailing harsh working conditions, heat waves, chronic injuries, and employee productivity surveillance. She believes her previous experience in construction and waitressing has prepared her and that she is physically fit enough for the job.

During her first week of orientation Linda is taught how to be a “stower,” a worker who distributes items into bins on shelves in the warehouse. The rest of her first week is devoted to “work-hardening,” the process of working half-day shifts to allow CamperForce workers to prepare for the long hours and demanding physical toll the job will take on them.