Amazon’s US$3,000 signing bonuses irk workers who got US$10 coupons

Amazon’s immense multi-level warehouse, called a fulfillment center, in Kent, Washington. If one worker gets a turkey and another worker gets US$3,000 (RM12,260), it’s the ultimate insult in compensation, said Whittlesey. — Seattle Times/TNS

Amazon.com Inc is doling out hiring bonuses as high as US$3,000 (RM12,260) to make sure it has enough people to squeak through the busy holiday shopping season. That’s stoking resentment among existing workers who recently got coupons for Thanksgiving turkeys as a thank you for their hard work.

Social-media chatrooms where Amazon workers congregate have lit up. One worker shared a photo of a US$15 (RM61) turkey voucher, prompting others to boast they received coupons for US$20 (RM81) or US$25 (RM102), while others lamented that they got nothing. When a worker in Alabama said his warehouse got US$10 (RM41) vouchers, colleagues joked that it was barely enough to buy a turkey leg. Others mordantly counselled fellow workers to look on the bright side – at least the turkey vouchers were tax-free, unlike the bonuses.