Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 for All U.S. Employees

The higher $15 wage puts considerable pressure on the automobile, supplier and service industries. to match it.

Forget $7.25, under political pressure and a tight job market, Amazon today announced that it will raise its minimum wage to $15, Including Full-Time, Part-Time, Temporary, and Seasonal workers on 1 November. The new $15 minimum wage includes associates employed by temp agencies.

More than 250,000 Amazon employees, as well as more than 100,000 seasonal holiday employees, and their families will benefit from the new, higher pay. Amazon’s public policy team will also begin advocating for an increase in the federal minimum wage so that it remains competitive at the bottom of the labor market.

“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.”

“We will be working to gain Congressional support for an increase in the federal minimum wage. The current rate of $7.25 was set nearly a decade ago,” said Jay Carney, Senior Vice President of Amazon Global Corporate Affairs. “We intend to advocate for a minimum wage increase that will have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people and families across this country.” The wage was not indexed for inflation meaning it was worth substantially more at the beginning.

Employees will continue to receive Amazon’s industry-leading benefits, including:

• Comprehensive healthcare, including medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• Up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave
• 401k matching
• Career Choice, which pre-pays 95% of associates’ tuition for courses in high-demand fields, whether those jobs are at Amazon or another company
• Career Skills, which trains hourly associates in critical job skills like resume writing, how to communicate effectively, and computer basics

With more than 575,000 employees worldwide, Amazon was named #1 on LinkedIn’s 2018 Top Companies list, ranks #1 on The Harris Poll’s Corporate Reputation survey, and #2 in Fortune’s World Most Admired Companies. To learn more about working at Amazon, click here.