Amazon continues to prosper during the coronavirus pandemic and is rewarding the people responsible for driving its business.
With limits on in-person holiday shopping, that money could very well find its way back into the Amazon revenue stream.
The e-commerce specialist is providing holiday bonuses for its U.S. operations workers employed between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31. Full-timers qualify for a $300 bonus, while part-time employees will receive a $150 bonus, according to an Amazon blog post Thursday.
“I’m grateful to our teams who continue to play a vital role serving their communities,” Amazon Worldwide Operations Senior Vice President Dave Clark said in a statement. “As we head into the peak of the holiday season, we want to share our appreciation through another special recognition bonus, totaling more than $500 million for our front-line employees.”
In March, April and May, Amazon hired 175,000 additional workers for full- and part-time positions.
The bonuses could be a response to the perception of the vouchers for Thanksgiving turkey earlier this month. The $10 turkey “bonus” compared poorly with incentives for holiday-season new hires that ranged from $1,000 in Kentucky and Minnesota to $3,000 in parts of Illinois and California, according to company job listings.
“If one worker gets a turkey and another worker gets $3,000, it’s the ultimate insult in compensation,” Fred Whittlesey, a compensation expert and ex-Amazon employee told Bloomberg. “People constantly compare.”
The new round of bonuses likely served to placate a good number of long-time workers.
“I’ve been at Amazon for 22 holiday seasons, and this one is definitely unique, to say the least,” Clark wrote. “Our teams are doing amazing work serving customers’ essential needs, while also helping to bring some much-needed holiday cheer for socially-distanced families around the world.”
Add comment