[US] Amazon will give hundreds of thousands of workers a raise

Amazon.com, Inc. is set to increase wages for its hourly employees after a majority of workers at one of its warehouses voted against unionising, The Wall Street Journal reports.

At the end of April, Amazon announced that more than 500,000 of its employees would receive pay rises of between 50 cents and $3 an hour. The E-commerce giant offers a starting wage of $15 an hour and employs roughly 950,000 people in the United States. It said the raises represented an investment of more than $1 billion.

The pay increase reportedly covers a variety of workers and schedules but averaged over the total number of employees Amazon said would be affected, it would total approximately $40 a week per worker.

Amazon said its starting wage remains at $15 an hour and declined to say what the average raise will be for workers, claiming that would depend on factors like how long an employee has been at the company.

A spokesperson for Amazon said it had decided to move its pay review forward from the autumn to increase wages now. The spokesperson would not comment on whether the raises were tied to the union election in Bessemer, Alabama, but did say they are related to hiring and maintaining competitiveness for workers. Amazon said it is now recruiting for tens of thousands of positions across the US.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Amazon.com, Inc. is set to increase wages for its hourly employees after a majority of workers at one of its warehouses voted against unionising, The Wall Street Journal reports.

At the end of April, Amazon announced that more than 500,000 of its employees would receive pay rises of between 50 cents and $3 an hour. The E-commerce giant offers a starting wage of $15 an hour and employs roughly 950,000 people in the United States. It said the raises represented an investment of more than $1 billion.

The pay increase reportedly covers a variety of workers and schedules but averaged over the total number of employees Amazon said would be affected, it would total approximately $40 a week per worker.

Amazon said its starting wage remains at $15 an hour and declined to say what the average raise will be for workers, claiming that would depend on factors like how long an employee has been at the company.

A spokesperson for Amazon said it had decided to move its pay review forward from the autumn to increase wages now. The spokesperson would not comment on whether the raises were tied to the union election in Bessemer, Alabama, but did say they are related to hiring and maintaining competitiveness for workers. Amazon said it is now recruiting for tens of thousands of positions across the US.

Source: The Wall Street Journal