By Spencer Soper and Jacqueline Davalos
Amazon.com Inc. is doling out hiring bonuses as high as $3,000 to make sure it has enough people to squeak through the busy holiday shopping season. That’s stoking resentment among existing workers who recently got coupons for Thanksgiving turkeys as a thank you for their hard work.
Social-media chatrooms where Amazon workers congregate have lit up. One worker shared a photo of a $15 turkey voucher, prompting others to boast they received coupons for $20 or $25, while others lamented that they got nothing. When a worker in Alabama said his warehouse got $10 vouchers, colleagues joked that it was barely enough to buy a turkey leg. Others mordantly counseled fellow workers to look on the bright side — at least the turkey vouchers were tax-free, unlike the bonuses.
Amazon’s willingness to risk dissension in the ranks reflects a dawning reality: Many Americans are reluctant to re-enter the workforce, despite a national unemployment rate of 6.9%, double the pre-pandemic…
