IMO, this is a genius move by AMZN

- Cuts down on bad PR - Makes employees happy (while they dont get RSUs) - Make the employees genuinely skilled in operating semi-automation equipment - Make competitors bleed, because either they pay $15 per hour or face the PR wrath, while trying to catch up with AMZN in terms of automation.

If you think for a moment that AMZN started replacing 90% of employees with automation, they can still afford to give $30 per hour, and get good PR, while making the competitors look bad for paying $20 per hour.

I hope this doesn't lead to a minimum wage law that requires AMZN competitors to pay $15 per hour. It'll only mean death to those competitors.