Amazon Bumps Minumum Wage To $15 Amid Tight Labor

(@FahadShabbir)

Amazon bumps minumum wage to $15 amid tight labor

Online retail giant Amazon announced Tuesday it would raise its starting wage for US workers to $15 an hour, amid long-standing criticism of low pay, and advocate for a higher minimum wage nationwide.

Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Oct, 2018 ) :Online retail giant Amazon announced Tuesday it would raise its starting wage for US workers to $15 an hour, amid long-standing criticism of low pay, and advocate for a higher minimum wage nationwide.

The pay raise will apply to 250,000 employees, starting November 1, and to the more than 100,000 seasonal workers the company expects to hire for the holiday shopping season.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said the company, with a market valuation of nearly $1 trillion, heard the complaints about the pay structure.

"We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead," Bezos said in a statement.

Amazon encouraged other large US employers to follow its lead, and said it would lobby US lawmakers for an increase in the Federal minimum wage, currently at only $7.

25.

But the company did not say if it would push for a minimum wage of $15 per hour, a long-sought goal of worker advocates. Amazon's pay varies by location, so the increase could be $3 to $5 an hour depending on the state.

The company -- which offers online shoppers an unparalleled combination of ease, speedy delivery and choice few can match -- has long faced stinging criticism of its labor practices, including grueling labor conditions and lack of job security.

While Amazon portrays the pay raise as a response to those critics, with US unemployment now flirting with historic lows, employers across the country complain they are having difficulty finding enough qualified workers to fill open positions. And some have had to curtail or cancel planned investments as a result.

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