By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 23rd, 2024
Amazon stock has not responded favorably to the company’s announcement of a $25 million coronavirus fund that it set up for employees.
Even the world’s biggest companies are suffering under the effects of the coronavirus. Apart from the fall in their stocks, some of these companies can no longer handle business the way they normally would because of a high risk in the chance of infection. Amazon’s business is also significantly affected because of its high reliance on products from China. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock is also taking a plunge and has lost considerable weight.
Amazon (AMZN) Stock Falling
Yesterday, Amazon stock lost 3.75% and closed at $1,820.86. Market analysts believe that the lockdown in China which has caused production in the country to drop will deplete AMZN even further. In pre-market trading, AMZN fell a further 5.1% and lost nearly $93 to trade at $1,728. Today it is already over 4% down. Currently, it has lost further weight, trading at $1,726.17.
While it might be possible for Amazon to put a bit more focus on suppliers elsewhere, finding alternatives right now, will take some time. Currently, 49% of Amazon’s top sellers are in China. If the company did not have any plans to change this before now, it might currently be too late.
Amazon Announces Relief Fund But Stock Is Unmoved
In a recent announcement, Amazon says it has created a relief fund to handle COVID-19 challenges. The blog post says that the company’s leaders are now having daily meetings to figure out new ways to keep the situation under control.
One of the ways is a relief fund. Written by Amazon Senior Vice President of Human Resources Beth Galetti, the publication says the fund is “a $25 million initial contribution”. The fund is directed at several categories of people including employees, partners, and contractors all over the world. Amazon says it is accessible by people who are infected or quarantined.
“We will be offering all of these groups the ability to apply for grants approximately equal to up to two weeks of pay if diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed into quarantine by the government or Amazon.”
For access, these people must first apply and if approved, could receive a personal minimum of $400 or a maximum of $5,000.
Google recently announced that it is recommending remote work for all North American employees. It had initially asked employees in Washington to work from home, and then later expanded the recommendation. Also, Google created a similar ‘COVID-19’fund for employees. In response to the announcement, Google (GOOGL) stock climbed almost 5%. Amazon (AMZN) stock has however not responded positively to its own announcement.
Amazon (AMZN) stock as crashed 19.34% in the last one month, with a 2020 loss of 6.16%
Coronavirus Responses
Amazon has now joined a growing list of companies with specific efforts at tackling COVID-19. For example, Instacart has also announced up to 14 days paid leave for any part-time staff diagnosed with COVID-19. In addition, both Lyft and Uber have similar provisions for two-week compensations, for infected drivers.