Amazon is a trillion dollar company and just made a huge announcement that will once again change the game for retail giants.
Starting in November, Amazon is raising the minimum wage for all U.S. employees to $15 an hour and some making $15 currently will get a raise.
The bold move is coming at a time when Amazon has faced a lot of criticism about how the company treats and pays its employees. Bernie Sanders has been one of the most vocal opponents.
Amazon is worth $1 TRILLION.
Jeff Bezos is worth $155 BILLION.
Thousands of Amazon workers have to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing to survive.
That is what a rigged economy looks like. Tomorrow we will introduce a bill to end subsidies for low-wage employers. https://t.co/jYQrtYbwZL
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 4, 2018
Despite the attacks on working conditions and low wages, Amazon CEO shocked the retail world with the new minimum wage. According to a statement by Jeff Bezos, they listened to people like Bernie Sanders and adjusted accordingly.
“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead. We’re exited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.” – Jeff Bezos
Raising the minimum wage and then calling on Amazon’s competitors to do the same, seems like an honorable gesture on the surface. Could there be more to it? Amazon is a trillion dollar company with almost no brick and mortar stores and a focus on automation.
Challenging other retail giants like Walmart and Target to keep up with the $15 an hour minimum wage could be a strategy to by Amazon to make the other companies weaker.
Walmart had already planned to raise its minimum wage to $11, but that is about a third less than Amazon. Walmart has a lot of brick-and-mortar stores with greeters, shopping cart retrievers and midnight shelf-stockers. If Walmart is forced to compete and raise the minimum wage even further, it could dramatically increase labor costs and make it harder to compete with Amazon and their digital business model.
Raising the minimum wage is a great way to capture headlines, help the lowest paid people in the company and keep the Bernie’s of the world off their back for a while, but this is a smart move. Not only does Amazon stay ahead of the progressive agenda, it forces their competitors to respond accordingly or face backlash.
Jeff Bezos isn’t the richest man in the world by accident; he’ll find a way to make money by paying people more.
What are your thoughts on Amazon raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour?
Let us know in the comments below.