Amazon says warehouse worker pay raises to end after May 30

Amazon.com Inc will end warehouse worker pay raises in June, after spending almost $800 million in extra incentives to keep employees picking, packing and shipping through the Covid-19 pandemic. A group representing workers said it’s too soon given the risks to employees.

The world’s largest e-commerce company extended the pay bumps twice, but an Amazon spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company doesn’t anticipate extending it a third time and plans to return workers to their prior wages in June.

Amazon has been overwhelmed with demand because many stores are closed, and shoppers are staying home to avoid exposure. With shipping delays growing, the company hired 175,000 additional people to keep up and in March instituted temporary $2-per-hour raises for hundreds of thousands of warehouse workers earning at least $15 an hour.