Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the first Bezos Academy would be open about 18 miles south of Seattle next month.

Bezos Academy is meant to be part of a network of free preschools. The Amazon CEO said the free preschool in Des Moines in Washington would open its doors on Oct. 19. Bezos said it is the first of many preschools that they will be opening for underserved children.

Bezos expressed his gratitude to the team that made it possible even during the pandemic, citing Wesley Homes for stepping up the facility. Wesley Homes is a nonprofit retirement community provider affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Bezos' Day One Fund, established in 2018, will support the preschool. 

"Our Montessori-inspired preschool will offer year-round programming, five days a week, for children 3-5 years old. Admissions will prioritize low-income families," the Day One Fund said.

Bezos has added billions of dollars to his net worth after Amazon stock up more than 62 percent this year.

MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire's ex-wife, received billions in their divorce and signed the Giving Pledge. 

Giving Pledge is a campaign created by billionaire Warren Buffet, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates. In July, Scott said that she had given away more than $1.6 billion to a variety of causes over the past year.

Meanwhile, a new report accuses Amazon of providing "large low-quality jobs" during the coronavirus pandemic.

The e-commerce giant committed to adding a total of 175,000 new jobs amid COVID-19 to help demand. However, progressive advisory services firm KKS Advisors has ranked Amazon as one of the worst of those with inequality and COVID-19-related issues.

KKS said that during the pandemic, Amazon created several jobs for which it might ostensibly receive credit under a first-pass analysis.

"However, these jobs were largely low-quality, many used zero-hour contracts, and they are unlikely in the medium and long term to align with a stakeholder primacy agenda," KKS said in a report.

Zero-hour contracts are contracts between an employer and an employee that do not require a minimum work hour requirement.

Millions of people were laid off from their jobs due to the lockdown restrictions. Amazon hired a range of full and part-time workers during the pandemic.  

Amazon spokesperson Lisa Levandowski said that Amazon had created hundreds of thousands of jobs in this critical time.

She added that these jobs pay twice the federal minimum wage, health insurance from day one, up to 20 weeks of parental leave, and company-funded upskilling opportunities.

The spokesperson also said they had announced plans to hire 300,000 people in the U.S. since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

The retail giant's market capitalization rose since February. As of reporting, it is worth more than $1.5 trillion. Bezos' wealth topped $200 billion in August.

Three Amazon warehouse workers charged the company in June, demanding more COVID-19 protections.

The KKS also reported that Amazon fired at least six employees who spoke up against the company's response to COVID-19 in the pandemic's early months.

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