COMP NEWS – A recent survey has indicated that over half of Amazon workers struggle to afford food or rent on the wages they receive from one of the largest, most profitable companies in the world.

Five years after Amazon.com Inc. raised wages to $15 an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.

The national study, published Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, asked US employees about their economic wellbeing, including whether they’d skipped meals, went hungry, or were worried about being able to make rent or mortgage payments.

 

Fifty-three percent of respondents reported that they’d experienced one or more forms of food insecurity in the prior three months, and 48% experienced one or more forms of housing insecurity. Workers who said they took unpaid time off after getting hurt on the job were more likely to report trouble paying their bills, the researchers found. 

 

“It’s not necessarily that Amazon’s an outlier,” said Sanjay Pinto, who co-authored the study with Beth Gutelius. Still, “they’re certainly not taking the lead in creating family-sustaining jobs.” 

Amazon refutes the findings of the study, claiming that the survey featured flawed methodologies,

In an emailed statement, Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly called the researchers’ methodology “deeply flawed” and said the company had tried to raise its concerns with the study’s authors but never heard back. 

“It’s a survey that ignores best practices for surveying, has limited verification safeguards to confirm respondents are Amazon employees, and doesn’t prevent multiple responses from the same person,” he said. Kelly added that Amazon has increased average pay to $20.50 an hour and provides a range of benefits, including health care, dental, 401(k) and pre-paid tuition.

 

Amazon has long been criticized for its treatment of employees, especially those who pack and ship boxes in its warehouses. Much of the criticism has focused on injuries that have exceeded the rate of logistics industry peers. Amazon has pledged to make its warehouses safer, in part by automating aspects of the job that require repetitive motions. Pinto and Gutelius examined injuries among Amazon’s ranks in a report published in October before turning their focus to workers’ economic circumstances.

To read more about Amazon workers’ struggles to live on their wages, click here.

For more Comp News, see our recent posts.