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Amazon drops $2 coronavirus pay rise for warehouse workers as CEO Jeff Bezos' fortune nears $150 billion

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  1. ThiccPad
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    They did the raise in mid-march due to an influx of online purchases: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-100000-new-hires-and-pay-raise-amid-coronavirus-2020-3?op=1 the pay drop is likely due...

    They did the raise in mid-march due to an influx of online purchases: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-100000-new-hires-and-pay-raise-amid-coronavirus-2020-3?op=1

    "We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which means our labor needs are unprecedented for this time of year," the blog post said.

    The moves are designed to help its warehouse and delivery workers as they deal with increased workloads during the coronavirus outbreak, which is causing more people to shop online.

    the pay drop is likely due to demand leveling off:

    In some warehouses, the company appears to have been able to manage demand sufficiently that it’s now asking workers to take time off.

    The Indiana worker told Business Insider that in their warehouse managers were offering voluntary time off.

    It might have been better to be laid off than continue been employed:

    The same worker said that if Amazon had shut down warehouses to shield its staff, employees would have been eligible to claim unemployment. The person said this might have meant more income given the $US600 federal boost to unemployment payments introduced in April.

    That boost is due to come to an end in July, and at the moment it means roughly half of US workers can earn more in unemployment than from their regular salaries.

    4 votes