Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says that testing everyone regularly for COVID-19 — not just his own employees — will be key to helping the world bounce back from the novel coronavirus crisis.
“Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running,” Bezos writes in his annual letter to shareholders, made public Thursday. “For this to work, we as a society would need vastly more testing capacity than is currently available. If every person could be tested regularly, it would make a huge difference in how we fight this virus. Those who test positive could be quarantined and cared for, and everyone who tests negative could re-enter the economy with confidence.”
Bezos’ annual letter is watched closely each year by investors and analysts seeking a window into his mindset and the company’s strategy. COVID-19 is the main subject this year, underscoring the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. The disease has infected more than 2 million people worldwide and killed nearly 140,000, upending businesses and the global economy.
The crisis has put a spotlight on the Seattle tech giant as millions rely on the company for everything from grocery delivery to cloud computing.
“One thing we’ve learned from the COVID-19 crisis is how important Amazon has become to our customers,” Bezos wrote, saying that “Amazonians are working around the clock to get necessary supplies delivered directly to the doorsteps of people who need them.”
“The demand we are seeing for essential products has been and remains high,” he added. “But unlike a predictable holiday surge, this spike occurred with little warning, creating major challenges for our suppliers and delivery network. We quickly prioritized the stocking and delivery of essential household staples, medical supplies, and other critical products.”
Addressing the subject of warehouse worker safety — which has drawn much scrutiny — Bezos called out Amazon’s previously reported efforts to build its own testing capacity for frontline workers. “A next step in protecting our employees might be regular testing of all Amazonians, including those showing no symptoms,” he wrote.
With the letter, the Amazon CEO joins a growing number of leaders and experts who say the U.S. is not conducting enough testing. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday that his state’s biggest hurdle to reopening the economy is testing kit supplies. “This is a huge frustration for all of us,” Inslee said.
Bezos pointed to Amazon’s changes at its own warehouses and Whole Foods store locations to protect worker safety, including increased sanitization and temperature checks.
The company is taking heat for a growing number of COVID-19 cases inside its warehouses. Politicians and labor activists are calling out Amazon and asking for broader safety measures. Amazon this month fired two highly visible employee activists who regularly criticize the company’s position on climate change and conditions inside its fulfillment centers.
The first known COVID-19 death among Amazon’s workforce occurred two weeks ago, the company said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as other tech companies freeze hiring and face an uncertain financial future, Amazon is bucking the trend as its stock price hit an all-time high this week.
Amazon said this week that it has hired 100,000 new warehouse workers over the past month to keep up with the demand and plans to add an additional 75,000. Bezos said this will cost the company more than $500 million through the end of April, and likely more beyond then. “While we recognize this is expensive, we believe it’s the right thing to do under the circumstances,” he wrote in the letter.
Bezos, who made a $100 million donation to food banks earlier this month, did address non-COVID-19 topics in the letter, including the company’s climate change initiatives. But given the impact of the global pandemic on Amazon and the world, it was the key subject of his annual letter.
“For now, my own time and thinking continues to be focused on COVID-19 and how Amazon can help while we’re in the middle of it,” Bezos wrote. “I am extremely grateful to my fellow Amazonians for all the grit and ingenuity they are showing as we move through this. You can count on all of us to look beyond the immediate crisis for insights and lessons and how to apply them going forward.”
To end the letter, he quoted the late children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss: “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.”
Bezos concluded, “I am very optimistic about which of these civilization is going to choose.”