The company announced the annual increase, something that it seeks to help attract candidates for the “tens of thousands of jobs” it seeks to fill in the United States.
Amazon will increase its hourly pay by between $ 0.5 and $ 3 to more than half a million employees of its fulfillment, delivery, and sorting teams, the U.S. tech giant announced on Wednesday.
The increases, which will take effect between May and June, come before a federal hearing on a botched unionization drive. After President Joe Biden challenged Amazon to avoid federal income tax.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has launched a wave of jobs during the epidemic, adding 500,000 jobs last year. Now, it employs 1.3 million people worldwide.
Generally, the company reviews wages each fall before the holiday shopping period. But this time, he advanced the annual increase, something that he seeks to help attract candidates for the “tens of thousands of jobs” that he seeks to fill in operations in the United States, said Darcie Henry, vice president of global operations in a statement.
The statement added The pay increase would be applied to customer compliance, delivery, package sorting, and employees of special compliance teams. In contrast, other teams will review their annual pay during the year.
In 2018, Amazon raised its minimum wage for all employees in U.S. dollars to one hour per hour and recently joined several other large corporations to raise the federal minimum to the same amount.
Amazon, among other benefits, affected its initial hourly wages while defending itself against the company’s last failed attempt to form a union at the U.S. facility.
Earlier this month, unions and political leaders argued that Amazon employees face constant pressure and surveillance with low job security, which highlighted the need for collective bargaining.
Organizers of the union’s failed campaign had accused the company of intimidating workers before the vote. They filed a lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board.
Earlier this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos acknowledged in a letter to shareholders that the company could do better for its workers and said he was not comfortable with the outcome of the Alabama union election.
Defending the treatment of Amazon employees after the vote, Bezos promised a better “vision” for workers. In a letter, he set a new goal for the company to become “the best employee on earth and the safest place to work.
Amazon announced the increase a day before its first-quarter revenue release schedule.
Other retailers have also increased their salaries. Costco, for example, recently raised its minimum wage to $ 16 an hour. And Target just raised its starting salary to $ 15 an hour.
Amazon is the second-largest private employee in the United States, behind its retail rival Walmart.