Hundreds of Scottish Amazon workers to share in bumper festive bonus pool as profits surge

Hundreds of Scottish Amazon workers will get a festive pay boost after the internet giant declared a $500 million (£374m) “thank you” bonus.
Amazon has seen its sales surge amid the lockdown as high street stores across the UK were forced to close their doors. Picture: John DevlinAmazon has seen its sales surge amid the lockdown as high street stores across the UK were forced to close their doors. Picture: John Devlin
Amazon has seen its sales surge amid the lockdown as high street stores across the UK were forced to close their doors. Picture: John Devlin

The US tech behemoth is dedicating the sum to Christmas bonuses for its frontline staff after the company recorded a stellar year of sales during the pandemic.

In a blog post, senior vice president of Amazon Worldwide Operations Dave Clark said the money would go to full-time and part-time staff who are employed by the company between December 1 and December 31.

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Full-time frontline employees in the UK and the US will receive £300 or $300, while part-time staff will be eligible for £150 or $150.

The firm recorded a net income of $6.3 billion (£4.73bn) in the three months to the end of September – up from $2.1bn in the third quarter of last year.

By the end of the year, Amazon will have recruited 10,000 extra UK staff to cope with the uptick in sales stemming from the pandemic. It has thousands of workers in Scotland, mainly employed as distribution centres in Dunfermline and Gourock.

In his post, Mr Clark said he was “grateful” for the efforts of Amazon employees through what has been a “unique” year.

He said: “Combined with other holiday pay incentives, in this quarter alone we are investing over $750m in additional pay for our front-line hourly workforce.

“This brings our total spent on special bonuses and incentives for our teams globally to over $2.5bn in 2020, including a $500m thank you bonus earlier this year.

“Our teams are doing amazing work serving customers’ essential needs, while also helping to bring some much-needed holiday cheer for socially-distanced families around the world. I’ve never been more grateful for – or proud of – our teams.”

Amazon faced criticism over work conditions earlier this year, with the company hit with strikes from workers in France and Italy over virus safety concerns. In April, a row over sanitary working conditions forced it to temporarily shut six of its French warehouses.

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Amazon has since said it has made more than 150 “significant” process changes to ensure the health and safety of its staff. It has also rolled out a pilot programme offering testing for its frontline workers in the UK.

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