Is Amazon to COVID-19 What Ford and GM Were to WWII?

After several weeks in quarantine, with more than 3 billion people confined in various countries around the world and with the COVID-19 transmission curve rising vertically in some territories, Amazon continues to be one of the winners of the pandemic. The e-commerce company has not stopped hiring ever since Italy became the first European country to decree mandatory confinement of its population. Today, Amazon has an estimated 800,000 employees worldwide, a number that could continue to grow during the crisis, due to the company’s plan to continue increasing its workforce to meet its product delivery commitments.

The success of many companies that would dominate the global market in the following decades was built during World War II (WWII). Ford, GM, GE and Kodak solidified their success by working intensively with partners to liberate Europe, an example that could well be applied to Amazon. If Ford and General Motors used their involvement in WWII and the subsequent allied victory to emerge strongly in the post-war world, Amazon could do the same once the COVID19 crisis is over.

In an interview with Financial Times, Eric McNulty, a leadership expert from Harvard University, says that “Amazon is the new Red Cross.” In his opinion, the company is key in keeping the population confined to their homes, thus avoiding the growth of the COVID-19 contagion curve. However, what could initially be seen as a success can quickly turn into failure if the company does not comply with strict social distancing and health safety protocols.

According to information provided by the company, currently 270,000 employees work on warehouses that Amazon has spread throughout the US to meet the delivery deadlines of their products, a good part of them medical products or other resources considered essential by the US Government. So far, the company has managed to control the outbreaks of infection that have occurred in some warehouses without too many problems. The company has also taken internal measures in those areas where there is more contact between workers. The first infection occurred in Queens, New York, on March 16. Since then, the company has announced 26 other cases, although it has not specified the measures that have been taken to offset the spread of the virus.

Today, Amazon is valued at over US$950 billion and before the spread of COVID-19, the company had made a huge investment around the world to improve its produce delivery service to less than two hours from the time of purchase. Prime Now and Amazon Fresh have become strategic products in these times of crisis and have enabled Amazon to meet delivery deadlines without too much difficulty.

This market capitalization value has allowed Amazon to participate in several research programs related to COVID-19. One of these is being carried out in Spain, specifically at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, in Barcelona, and its aim is to speed up the search for useful compounds for a hypothetical treatment against COVID-19. In this alliance, Amazon offers the medical center its capacity for real-time data analysis through AI developed by its engineers.

Amazon has taken advantage of this crisis to position itself as a strategic company to contain the spread of the virus. However, it also has its eyes on the future. According to analysts at Business Insider, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos would have looked at some companies that could help him further increase his company’s influence. According to Business Insider, Zoom, Twilio or Slack could be in Bezos’ sights for the mid-term.