Coronavirus: Amazon to pay $500M in one-time bonuses to front-line workers as pandemic boosts demand

Amazon announced Monday it will provide one-time “Thank You” bonuses to front-line workers as a show of appreciation for employees meeting unprecedented demand from online shoppers during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Full-time Amazon employees as well as workers at Whole Foods and drivers in Amazon’s contracted delivery program will receive a one-time $500 payment, while part-time employees will receive $250 as part of the more than $500 million initiative, the company stated in a blog post.

Meanwhile, all Amazon and Whole Foods leaders will receive a $1,000 bonus; owners running contracted delivery-service operations will receive $3,000 each; and Amazon Flex drivers will each receive one-time payments of $150.

“My thanks and gratitude for the truly remarkable commitment to customers you have shown throughout this journey. I have never been more proud of our teams,” Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of retail operations, told employees in the post.

The bonuses apply to all full- and part-time workers who were with Amazon throughout the month of June, CNBC reported.

According to Forbes, the bonuses fill a gap left when the company ended its short-term pay bump of $2-per-hour for warehouse and delivery workers at the end of May.

Cox Media Group