Amazon gives front-line workers a $300 holiday bonus

An Amazon warehouse

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Amazon is providing front-line workers a one-time bonus to share its appreciation for their work heading into "the peak of the holiday season," the company announced Thursday.

In a blog post, Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of retail operations, said full-time operations staff who are employed by the company from December 1 to December 31 will receive a $300 bonus. Part-time workers employed within the same timeframe will receive a $150 bonus.

"I've been at Amazon for 22 holiday seasons and this one is definitely unique, to say the least," Clark said. "I'm grateful to our teams who continue to play a vital role serving their communities."

Amazon said it will spend more than $500 million on the one-time holiday payments. In June, Amazon also spent $500 million on "Thank You" bonuses for front-line employees who continued to come to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has spent billions of dollars since March on coronavirus-related investments, including wage increases, safety gear and enhanced cleaning measures, as well as on building out testing capabilities. Amazon issued temporary wage increases and double overtime pay at the height of the pandemic, but both of those incentives came to an end in June.

Since then, warehouse workers have expressed frustration that their hazard pay was being cut even as the pandemic has persisted and they still face increased health and safety risks in the workplace. In October, Amazon disclosed that more than 19,000 of its front-line workers in the U.S. contracted the coronavirus between March 1 and Sept. 19.

Amazon defended its decision to end the wage increases and double overtime pay, saying these pay premiums were announced to "help meet increased demand" from online orders, which has since stabilized.  

Retailers including Walmart and Target have also paid out bonuses to their workers as the holiday shopping season picks up.

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