Amazon provides 500 million dollars in frontline staff bonuses over festive season

Amazon is dedicating 500 million dollars to Christmas bonuses for its frontline staff after the company recorded a stellar year of sales during the pandemic.
File photo dated  of an Amazon sign at the fulfillment centre in Hemel Hempstead, HertfordshireFile photo dated  of an Amazon sign at the fulfillment centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
File photo dated of an Amazon sign at the fulfillment centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

In a blog post, senior vice president of Amazon Worldwide Operations Dave Clark said the money would go to full-time and part-time staff who are employed by the company between December 1 and December 31.

Full-time frontline employees in the UK and the US will receive £300 or 300 dollars, while part-time staff will be eligible for £150 or 150 dollars.

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The e-commerce and technology giant recorded a net income of 6.3 billion dollars (£4.73 billion) in the three months to September 30 – up from 2.1 billion dollars (£1.58 billion) in the third quarter of last year.

By the end of the year, Amazon will have recruited 10,000 extra UK staff to cope with the uptick in sales stemming from the pandemic.

In his post, Mr Clark said he was “grateful” for the efforts of Amazon employees through what has been a “unique” year.

He said: “Combined with other holiday pay incentives, in this quarter alone we are investing over 750 million dollars in additional pay for our front-line hourly workforce.

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“This brings our total spent on special bonuses and incentives for our teams globally to over 2.5 billion dollars in 2020, including a 500 million dollar thank you bonus earlier this year.

“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. I’ve never been more grateful for – or proud of – our teams.”

The company faced criticism over work conditions earlier this year, with the company hit with strikes from workers in France and Italy over virus safety concerns. In April, a row over sanitary working conditions forced the company to temporarily shut six of its warehouses in France.

Amazon has since said it has made more than 150 “significant” process changes to ensure the health and safety of its staff, from enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures to the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the implementation of temperature checks.

The company has also rolled out a pilot programme offering Covid-19 testing for its frontline workers in the UK.

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