Why Amazon Supports a $15 Minimum Wage
In 2018, Amazon raised its starting wage for all U.S. employees to at least $15 an hour. We’ve seen the positive impact this has had on our employees, their families, and their communities. Since then, we’ve been lobbying Congress to increase the federal minimum wage—which has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009.
See how Amazon employees reacted to our $15 starting wage in 2018
Watch: Remington’s job at Amazon means no more wondering if he can pay the rent
Studies show that wage increases help communities and fuel economic growth. The investments we made in our hourly employees quickly benefitted local businesses and economies.
Learn more from recent economic research:
- The National Employment Law Project: The gradual increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would narrow racial and gender pay gaps.
- The Economic Policy Institute: Increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift wages for 40 million workers.
- The American Economic Association: Multiple papers showcase the positive impact of a higher minimum wage.
- UC Berkeley and Brandeis University, Study: Amazon’s 2018 wage increase also upped pay for non-Amazon employees.
We have taken positions on other important issues, including those below.
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Customers represent a wide array of genders, races, ethnicities, abilities, ages, religions, sexual orientations, military status, backgrounds, and political views. It’s critical that Amazon employees are also diverse and that we foster a culture where inclusion is the norm. -
Low-income and minority families are disproportionately affected by an affordable housing shortage in the U.S. While only governments at the local, state and federal level have the capacity to implement more effective housing policies, we believe the private and public sectors can work together to address this challenge. -
Counterfeit is one of the few crimes specifically prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, yet bad actors are undeterred and continue to push their products through online and physical stores, harming both consumers and the retail companies who serve them.
