I doubt many are worse off, and of the stories about lost fringe benefits there was a telling lack of details. In reality people got a raise and thought "Why not both?"

However I think Amazon gave raises simply because they needed to recruit and retain. In my area Amazon runs "we're hiring...if you're alive you get a job, no resume no interview" constantly year round, so they clearly have a pressing need. At some point running the ads and constantly hiring is more expensive than just paying a more competitive rate.