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- Amazon hosted large events like new hire orientations and job fairs while the coronavirus was spreading across the US, according to Bloomberg.
- At one event, as many as 70 attendees were reportedly crowded into one room. One man who raised concerns told Bloomberg he was ridiculed by an Amazon manager.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises keeping distance between yourself and others and canceling all gatherings of more than 50 people.
- Amazon is hiring 100,000 delivery and warehouse workers to meet an uptick in demand amid the pandemic.
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Amazon recently hosted job fairs and new hire orientations, even as the coronavirus was spreading rapidly across the US.
According to a new report from Bloomberg's Spencer Soper and Matt Day, the ecommerce giant hosted large gatherings of new or potential employees as recently as March, sometimes packing as many as 70 people into one crowded room.
One man who attended an orientation event told Bloomberg he raised concerns about the amount of people gathered to an Amazon manager, who "made jokes and told me to leave if I was unhappy."
Others told Bloomberg they attended crowded hiring events in Oregon and Wisconsin, while another person said they noticed precautions in place at an event in Ohio — there, she told Bloomberg, she was asked to return on a different day when it was less crowded.
A spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but a spokesperson told Bloomberg that the events occurred two weeks ago, and that Amazon has since made these types of events virtual.
As the virus spreads across the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised putting distance between yourself and others. In mid-March, the CDC issued new guidelines advising the cancelation of large events or gatherings of more than 50 people in order to curb the spread of the virus.
While Oregon, Wisconsin, and Ohio, where Amazon events took place, have all issued statewide stay-at-home orders, Amazon has positioned itself as an "essential" business, meaning it can continue operating as other businesses shut their doors and people stay at home. The company is currently hiring for warehouse and delivery positions, and says its plans to hire 100,000 workers to help with the increase in demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On Monday, workers at Amazon's fulfillment center in New York City went on strike, protesting Amazon's health and safety policies. The workers demanded that Amazon shut down the warehouse for extra cleaning after another worker tested positive for coronavirus, and asked that the company offer paid time off for workers while it did so.
Later on Monday, Amazon fired the organizer of the strike, Chris Smalls, saying he violated social-distancing guidelines after the company asked him to stay home on paid sick leave.
Workers in Chicago also walked out on Monday night, and workers at a fulfillment center in Detroit are planning a walkout on Wednesday.
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