Amazon cannot afford to slip up on employee safety

Following the news that Amazon has shut its French warehouses after a virus safety dispute;

Luke Gowland, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view on the chain’s current challenges:

“Amazon has been one of the few winners from the COVID-19 crisis. Latest figures show that Amazon customers are spending almost $11,000 a second on the ecommerce site. This is good news for Amazon’s share price, which has risen 5% from its previous high of $2,170.22 on 19 February to $2,283 on 14 April adding to the wealth of its CEO Jeff Bezos.

“Despite Amazon’s positive financial performance, it has come under fire for its health and safety practices during the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a ruling from a French court that Amazon was not doing enough to protect its workers, Amazon has ordered the temporary closure of all six of its French distribution centers.

“While this alone is unlikely to have a significant financial impact on Amazon, any further closures or health and safety related fines will have a negative effect on Amazon’s financial performance.

“GlobalData’s Sustainability report, published in January 2020, highlights the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues to a company’s financial performance. Employee health and safety is an essential aspect of ESG. Addressing these recent health and safety issues and preventing any further incidences should be high on Amazon’s list of priorities.”

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