What to Know
- Amazon announced it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour starting Nov. 1.
- Amazon is building a large fulfillment center in West Dallas with the promise of hiring 1,500 more workers.
- The company has said it will lobby to increase the national minimum wage.
Amazon announced Tuesday it is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for 250,000 U.S. workers and another 100,000 holiday temporary employees.
North Texans have several reasons to be pleased.
The increase puts Amazon at more than twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The change will take effect Nov. 1.
Applicants at an Amazon hiring event in Coppell were happy about the news.
Aaron Jones said $15 an hour would put him in a better position than he was in the past, working other warehouse jobs.
"Pay the bills. Meet your demands, and everything, yeah. It's better than what you used to be," he said.
Applicant Shanikwa Williams was pleased about what would also be included from Amazon compared to the part-time work she had nearby.
"Benefits, insurance, 401(k), all of that," she said. "I've been trying to see if I can get on full time."
Amazon is building another large fulfillment center in West Dallas with the promise of hiring 1,500 more workers there.
Dallas City Councilman Omar Narvaez said other warehouses in the area offer average starting pay of just $9.36 an hour.
"That is going to be a huge jump for a lot of families," Narvaez said.
He said he expected other warehouses to increase their pay to keep workers on the job.
"That's just going to better for everybody in the city of Dallas, more money in peoples' pockets means they can go out and spend more and do more for their families," Narvaez said.
Mike Davis, an expert with Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business, said Amazon is making a statement about the kind of work it expects from employees.
"Amazon is doing this because it's good business. Amazon isn't a charity. They're not giving away money. They want to pay $15 an hour because they expect to get $15 or more worth of value out of their workers," Davis said. "They want people who will show up on time, who will stay til the end of their shift, who can take directions, but also provide some initiative."
The company has said it will lobby to increase the national minimum wage.
