Amazon to Pay Over $500 Million in ‘Thank You’ Bonuses for Front-Line Workers
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Amazon is saying “thank you” to its front-line workers.
To show appreciation to employees and partnered who worked on the front lines throughout June, Amazon will pay out one-time “Thank You” bonuses totaling more than $500 million. Full-time Amazon employees, delivery Service Partners and Whole Foods Market staff will receive $500 each, while part-time workers in the same roles will be paid $250. Delivery Service Partner owners will receive $3,000 and front-line Amazon and Whole Foods Market leaders will be paid $1,000. Additionally, Amazon Flex drivers who worked over 10 hours in June will get cash bonuses of $150.
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“Our front-line operations teams have been on an incredible journey over the last few months, and we want to show our appreciation with a special one-time Thank You bonus totaling over $500 million,” wrote Amazon SVP of worldwide operations Dave Clark in a note to employees. “Again, my thanks and gratitude for the truly remarkable commitment to customers you have shown throughout this journey. I have never been more proud of our teams.”
During the coronavirus crisis, Amazon gave workers a pay bump of $2 an hour as well as double overtime pay, but the wage hikes did not continue into June. The company says it has invested more than $800 million to boost hourly pay for employees and partners during the health crisis. Further, Amazon said it made more than 150 process changes to keep workers safe from contracting COVID-19, including staggering shifts, placing social distancing markers on the floors and increasing the frequency of cleaning across all sites. The e-commerce giant said it had also been conducting temperature checks and providing face masks and hand sanitizer to workers in its warehouses as well as in its Whole Foods grocery stores.
Since mid-March, Amazon added 175,000 temporary workers to keep up with a coronavirus-induced spike in demand. The e-tailer gave 125,000 of those workers the opportunity to stay on post-pandemic, with those who move into regular, full-time roles to receive comprehensive benefit packages with wages of at least $15 per hour.
Similar to Amazon, big-box retailer Walmart has awarded several rounds of cash bonuses to employees during the coronavirus crisis, last week paying out $300 to full-time hourly employees and drivers, $150 to part-time hourly and temporary workers, as well as $400 to assistant managers. To be eligible, workers had to have been employed as of June 5.
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