Bowing to pressure from international media and workers’ unions, Amazon has announced it intends to increase the minimum wage of its U.S. and U.K. staff.
CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged this pressure in his supporting statement, saying that the company “listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead”.
For its American employees, their hourly rate will jump to $15 per hour, while in Britain the rates will depend on the location. London-based staff will receive a £10.50 hourly rate, the baseline elsewhere is to be set at £9.50.
All changes will take effect from November 1st.
Earlier this year, Amazon increased its seller fees and made some alterations to its Prime Membership package as well. As of yet, it doesn’t appear there will be an attempt made to pass on the cost of these pay rises to the merchants operating on the marketplace through another increase.
Perhaps the increases in January were imposed with this move in mind?
The company is still fielding questions surrounding the safety of its workplaces, with some commentators and former employees claiming that the warehouses are at time dangerous places to be.
In its defence, Amazon has pointed to a UK Government Health and Safety executive’s report that it has in fact “43% fewer injuries on average than other transportation and warehousing companies in the UK”.
With Black Friday around the corner, Amazon knows there will again be huge media focus on its business practices. It seems as though it’s keen to clean up its image,however.
And that is very good news for sellers.
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