Amazon Invests $1B in Front-Line Employees

Increased pay, additional career options added to retailer’s benefits

9/30/2022

In addition to giving its hourly associates raises, Amazon is also adding additional career-planning benefits.

Amazon is doubling down on wages and benefits for its front-line employees. The retailer will invest nearly $1 billion over the next year to increase pay for employees in customer fulfillment and transportation from $18 per hour to more than $19 per hour, putting hourly wages between $16 and $26 per hour depending on an employee’s position and location in the United States.

Pay raises will begin in October, and Amazon is also expanding its Anytime Pay program to all employees in its U.S. operations, corporate and technology networks. The program gives employees access to up to 70% of their eligible earned pay at any time during the pay cycle.

“Front-line employees across customer fulfillment and transportation will now earn, on average, more than $19 per hour in the U.S., and they also have access to a growing range of comprehensive benefits to support themselves and their families,” said John Felton, Amazon’s SVP of worldwide operations. “Continuing to invest in pay, providing easy access to earned wages at any time during the month, and offering great benefits and career advancement opportunities are all part of our long-term efforts to be the best employer in the world.”

Additionally, Amazon is offering more career advancement and development benefits to its employees through its Amazon Intelligence Initiative. Associates will participate in a 12- to 14-month development program to enhance their technical skills and be placed in engineering roles within Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The company is actively building on its previous commitment to furthering its employees’ opportunities, and is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Career Choice, which provides prepaid college tuition to hourly employees, as well as other benefits. The program now has more than 90,000 total participants and has added more than 100 new education partners since March.

In August, Amazon further built upon its Career Choice program by adding free career coaching, college advising and specialized career services to its roster of benefits through the company’s new partnerships with Beyond 12 and Kaplan.