Amazon has announced a pay increase for its front-line team members, raising the average total compensation for workers to $29, and investing an additional $2.2 billion nationwide.
This investment also increases the roughly $28 billion invested into the state of Illinois since 2010, a number that includes both Amazon infrastructure and employee compensation, one of the larger numbers among the 50 states.
Amazon supports over 40,000 jobs in Illinois, with an additional estimated 56,000 jobs that are indirectly supported by Amazon's work within the state.
There are 100 main investment sites across the state, including 27 fulfillment and sortation centers, 9 Amazon Fresh retail locations, 2 wind farms, and 6 solar farms.
Since raising its starting wage to $15 per hour in 2018—more than double the federal minimum wage at that time—the company has consistently increased wages annually.
Starting in September, hourly workers at Amazon will receive an additional $1.50 per hour, boosting their average base wage to over $22 per hour. When factoring in the value of benefits, such as immediate access to health care, average total compensation for these workers will exceed $29 per hour. This increase translates to an annual salary boost of approximately $3,000 for full-time employees working a standard 40-hour week.
As one of the largest private employers in the United States, Amazon has a workforce of over 800,000 across the country.