SAN FRANCISCO - Jeff Bezos isn't necessarily a visionary, at least for his employees. The Amazon.com founder has transformed shopping. But the way the $950 billion firm treats its workers is not that futuristic. One example: It only recently provided face masks and other protective gear to warehouse staff.

Amazon’s envied supply-chain system has grappled with a surge in demand amid the Covid-19 crisis. The e-commerce firm is considered an essential service, allowing it to stay open in an economic shutdown. And home delivery is a lifeline for people ordered to stay there.

The spike in business has pressured employees. Amazon said last month it would hire an additional 100,000 people, raising wages for hourly workers by $2 an hour and doubling overtime compensation. Walmart, meanwhile, is doling out special cash bonuses totaling $550 million to hourly staff and hiring 150,000 temporary workers, in addition to a $2 an hour bump in its minimum wage.

But both companies failed to quickly answer calls for protective gear. Amazon, Walmart, Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market and others faced employee protests as a result. As experts in managing global supply chains, they should have been better placed to provide it than many employers.

Apple managed to source 20 million face masks. Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Sunday that it was donating them and would also start producing 1 million a week even though they are hardly Apple’s usual products.

Amazon started getting masks to its employees last Thursday, when the world hit a grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus cases, and implemented temperature checks ahead of Walmart. Warehouse workers make up more than half of Amazon’s 750,000 employees. Walmart, which has 1.5 million staffers in the United States, is making masks available starting this week.

Amazon did change processes to improve health and safety and established a $25 million relief fund for delivery drivers and others. But it’s also known for its hard-nosed approach to the workplace, with grueling hours and a frugal budget. The laser focus has fueled impressive growth. Net sales grew by 21% in 2019 compared to the previous year.

But the economic problems exposed by Covid-19 have forced governments and companies to be more creative. Amazon employees could use Bezos’s innovative mind as much as its customers.

CONTEXT NEWS

- Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said on April 2 that he is donating $100 million to Feeding America, which supports about 200 food banks. The money will go toward the charity’s response to Covid-19.

- Separately, notes from a meeting of Amazon executives, including Bezos, show the company discussed a plan to disparage a fired warehouse employee who led a protest against working conditions, VICE News reported on April 2. Starting the week of April 6, Amazon will implement temperature checks and provide face masks for all of its workers at its U.S. and European warehouses, in addition to Whole Foods Market grocery stores, Reuters reported.

(Editing by Richard Beales and Amanda Gomez)

© Reuters News 2020