Amazon's announcement that it would raise its hourly minimum wage to $15 has been seen as a victory for workers. But some longtime employees say their compensation could fall by thousands of dollars per year.
The retail behemoth will begin paying a minimum wage of $15 per hour in November, but local non-Amazon employers say they have strategies of their own for attracting and retaining workers.
In Indiana, the company operates seven fulfillment or sorting facilities and a Prime Now hub and is considering building a 1,250-worker distribution center in Greenwood.
The mysterious company that is considering building an $80 million distribution facility in Greenwood and creating 1,250 full-time jobs was revealed Monday night during a city council meeting.
As the world’s second-most-valuable public company weighs tax breaks and other goodies offered by 20 eager suitors, it stands accused of being a corporate welfare leech that should be giving the government and workers more rather than milking taxpayers.
Amazon stands out for its success in offloading its power costs and also because it dominates America’s cloud business, which has gone from nonexistent to using 2 percent of U.S. electricity in about a decade.
The move represents a formidable challenge to pharmacy chains including Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and CVS Health Corp., the two largest drugstore chains in the United States.
With its new program rolling out Thursday, contractors around the country can launch independent businesses that deliver Amazon packages.
Kroger Co. and United Kingdom-based online grocer Ocado Group are working on identifying sites for three automated distribution centers in the United States this year and may open as many as 20 within three years.
The online retailer has made a number of changes to Whole Foods since it bought the chain last year.
The announcement came the same day Amazon reported that first-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, fueled by the growth of online shopping and the cloud-computing service it provides to businesses and government agencies.
CEO Jeff Bezos quantified the size of Amazon’s Prime membership for the first time Wednesday. Amazon launched the service 13 years ago as a way to foster customer loyalty.
Using the criteria the internet giant set for its secondary headquarters, IBJ did some digging and reached some conclusions on the city’s fitness for the $5 billion project.
Indiana lawmakers didn’t propose any measures aimed specifically at attracting Amazon’s second headquarters, nor did they pass two bills that might have enhanced central Indiana’s bid.
After Amazon acquired Whole Foods for nearly $14 billion in August, rival grocers began preparing for the day the online retail giant would expand Whole Foods grocery delivery.
It was a prime holiday season for Amazon: The online retailer scored big with voice-activated gadgets, added a record number of Prime members and benefited from its recent purchase of Whole Foods.
Any tax-incentive package to lure Amazon’s HQ2 to Indiana could easily top half-a-billion dollars and climb to more than $1 billion.
A project of this size could actually change Indiana’s per-capita income. It could generate 30,000 spin-off jobs and produce hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenue.
More deals could be on the horizon as dozens of companies—including local powerhouses such as Simon, Eli Lilly and Anthem—game out what Amazon’s huge ambitions could mean for their bottom lines.
If Amazon wants to locate its HQ2 in the most-affordable spot for housing, there’s an obvious choice: Pittsburgh. But Philadelphia and Indianapolis aren't far behind.
