Amazon sent guests of its cancelled robotics conference $600 Moncler jackets, and it shows an uncomfortable reality about Amazon's army of struggling warehouse workers (AMZN)

Jeff Bezos MARS robot

Amazon sent Moncler jackets that cost $600 per unit last week to VIP guests of a private event called MARS after cancelling it due to the coronavirus.
MARS is separate from re:MARS, the robotic event that's open to the public.
Amazon's spokesperson said the gifts were purchased well in advance of MARS's cancellation, and were meant to be given to the guests anyway, as event attendees receive a gift bag of several items every year.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was not personally involved in the decision to send the gift to MARS guests, the spokesperson said.
The gift is unusually generous for Amazon, a company known for its frugal work culture.
It's also a reminder of the two-class system — high-paid knowledge workers and low-wage blue collar workers — that Amazon's business is built upon.
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Amazon warehouse workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis won a long-fought battle this month when the company agreed to provide some of them with paid time off benefits.

Around the same time, another group of people connected to Amazon received an unexpected surprise in the mail: A stylish winter jacket from Moncler, a French luxury ski-wear brand known for jackets with price tags that can reach thousands of dollars.

The jackets were sent to VIP guests of a private Amazon event called MARS, short for Machine-Learning, Home Automation, Robotics, and Space exploration, Business Insider has learned. MARS is an invitation-only event that started in 2016, in which CEO Jeff Bezos mingles with some of the most high-profile leaders in the robotics and space industries.

"As we'll miss seeing you in person this year, sending our warmest regards. Be well! MARS 2020 Team," Amazon's team wrote in a note for the gift.

MARS, which was scheduled to take place from March 15 to 18, was cancelled a few weeks ago because of the coronavirus outbreak.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the jackets were purchased well in advance of the event's cancellation, as they were supposed to be given as part of the event's gift bag that goes to all MARS guests every year. Bezos was not involved in the decision to send the jackets, customized with a MARS logo, which Amazon said had a cost of $600 each.

Moncler

The jackets were shipped on March 18 — two days after Amazon announced it was temporarily raising hourly wages for warehouse and delivery workers by $2, according to the spokesperson.

At a time when Amazon's warehouse workers are in the spotlight for working long, grueling hours in conditions some say are unsafe, the Moncler jackets are salient example of the two-class system that underpins Amazon's business empire, as well as much of today's so-called gig economy. That divide - between well-compensated "knowledge workers" and low-wage blue collar workers — is likely to come into starker relief as the coronavirus threat sends one group to work in the shelter of their homes while the other continues to report to the workplace.

Not your average schwag

To be sure, Amazon is hardly unique in giving away special gifts and freebies to VIPs and business partners. From sports stadium box seats to branded fleece vests, giveaways are standard practice in the corporate world. Still, the Moncler jackets are a cut above the average schwag, and seem an unusually generous act of giving for Amazon, a company known for its frugal work culture.

Amazon announced the temporary raise for warehouse and delivery workers last week only after calls for better pay grew and workloads increased following the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, it also rolled out paid time off across all warehouses following months of pressure from its employees, according to Buzzfeed. Some of Amazon's warehouses famously failed to install air-conditioners in the past until a local news investigation found workers had been falling ill.

Meanwhile, sellers that account for more than half of the products sold on Amazon's marketplace often complain about the lack of communication and clarity in policy changes. Following last week's announcement to block new shipments of non-essential products to its warehouses, sellers have expressed confusion about what products are still accepted. Even in Bezos's letter to employees on Saturday, his first public response to the coronavirus pandemic, there was no mention of the sellers.

The jackets appear to have shipped relatively quickly, despite the supply chain issues and shipment delays Amazon is experiencing due to the coronavirus. That may be because Amazon didn't ship them out of their own warehouses. One person who received the Moncler jacket told Business Insider that the gift didn't arrive in an Amazon box.

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