Amazon to give an extra $500 million to front-line workers
By: Ashwathy Nair
- It is stated by Amazon that it will pay out $500 million in bonuses.
- Full-time employers will be getting $300 bonuses and part-time employers will be getting $150 bonuses.
- Similar moves have been made by other retailers like Walmart and Home Depot.
The company stated this in a blog post that Amazon will be paying out $500 million in holiday bonuses to its front-line workforces.
For full-time employees, the money is going to be paid out in $300 bonuses and for part-time employees, the money is going to be paid out in $150 bonuses. Along with this money, Amazon states that this year more than $2.5 billion have been paid by them in bonuses to front-line workers. In June, it had also paid another $500 million in bonuses.
This year, huge earnings have been reported by Amazon as the coronavirus had led to a surge in e-commerce spending. Around the country, the online retailer’s warehouses continued to operate by potentially placing employees at risk of infection. Among the front-line workers of Amazon, an infection rate of 1.44 per cent was reported in October. As per the company, out of more than 1,300,000 workers, 19,816 front-line workers were tested positive with coronavirus at Amazon and Whole Foods, which is owned by them.
Similar moves have been taken by other retailers benefitting from the e-commerce boom by offering bonuses to employees. In the form of weekly bonuses and more paid time off, $1 billion have been added in pay to workers by Home Depot, and recently, the company announced about these changes that it would become permanent.
This year, over $1 billion in bonuses has been paid out by Walmart, along with that, in August, a $428 million bonus program for associates. The exact amount that was promised by Amazon was received by the employees either $300 or $150 depending on their hours.
