Amazon investing $230M in pay, benefits for Whole Foods employees
Amazon is making a major financial commitment to its Whole Foods Market grocery banner.
The online giant announced it will invest more than $230 million in higher pay, expanded benefits and new programs supporting more than 100,000 U.S. Whole Foods Market employees and their families. Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017.
Beginning Sept. 28, every hourly Whole Foods store employee will receive more compensation. According to Amazon, the average store associate wage will rise to more than $21 an hour and their total compensation to more than $29 an hour when including the value of their elected benefits. Predictable annual salary increases will replacing the previous performance-review-based model.
In September 2024, Amazon gave hourly members of its U.S. frontline worker team a raise which brought their average base wage to more than $22 per hour and average total compensation to more than $29 per hour including the value of their elected benefits
Health benefits
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, U.S. Whole Foods employees will gain access to Amazon's comprehensive benefits, including health plans with options starting at $5 per week. Eligible plans also include a One Medical membership with same-day and virtual doctor visits at no added cost.
With this move, Amazon estimates the total value of benefits available to a full-time Whole Foods worker is rising by more than 75%. In addition, company-paid short- and long-term disability insurance begins automatically at no cost. And when they enroll in an Amazon medical plan, Whole Foods employees will gain fertility and family-building care, and cancer support and care navigation. Much of this coverage begins on a worker’s first day on the job.
Expanded, fully paid parental leave will provide up to 20 weeks for birthing parents and up to six weeks for supporting and adoptive parents. And nearly 20,000 Whole Foods employees working 20 or more hours a week will get dental and vision coverage, and free basic life insurance.
Educational benefits
Whole Foods Market team members will gain access to the Amazon Career Choice program later in 2027. Launched in 2012 to aid Amazon employees in obtaining continuing education, Career Choice was expanded in January 2022 so that Amazon hourly employees with at least three months’ tenure do not have to pay the cost of their education.
Through Career Choice, Amazon funds full college tuition, as well as high school diplomas, GEDs and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications for frontline employees. Amazon further expanding its Career Choice program to all salaried employees in the U.S. as part of a larger skills training commitment in October 2025.
[READ MORE: Amazon commits $2.5B to skills training]
Since its launch, Amazon says more than 300,000 global employees — including 100,000 in 2025 — have participated in Career Choice, including training for roles such as aircraft mechanics, commercial truck drivers, IT support specialists, and software developers.
Other benefits
Every hourly Whole Foods employee will also gain benefits such a free Amazon Prime membership (a $139 value each year), reduced-cost prescriptions through Amazon Pharmacy, and other extra savings.
Amazon plots Whole Foods expansion
The planned expansion of wages and benefits for Whole Foods employees comes as Amazon is reprioritizing its grocery footprint to focus more on Whole Foods. The retail giant announced plans at the beginning of the year to close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods stores. Amazon plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations over the next few years and currently operates more than 545 Whole Foods stores across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
“Whole Foods Market is in the best position in our 45-year history, and the more we grow, the more we can invest in the people who got us here.,” said Jason Buechel, VP of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores and CEO of Whole Foods Market, in a corporate blog post. “Our team members show up every day with care and expertise that no one can replicate. This investment is our way of showing up for them the way they show up for our customers and each other, every single day.”
