In 2025, Amazon Australia achieved their biggest month yet with over 1,600 Amazonians volunteering more than 3,200 hours to approximately 50 community initiatives nationwide.
Efforts included packing essential supplies for local charities, making sandwiches for hungry school kids across the country, packing grocery hampers for people experiencing food insecurity, donating blood and hosting education immersion days for local students.
New research commissioned by Amazon Australia shows that the benefits of volunteering go well beyond community impact. Nine out of ten workers in Australia who volunteer through work say it positively impacts their job satisfaction, and 89% report feeling more fulfilled in their roles. The findings point to a clear growing trend: giving back is not only good for communities, it’s good for workplace culture, engagement and retention.
Key findings from the research asking Australian workers who volunteered through work include:
- 54% are more likely to make career decisions in line with staying with their current organisation, compared to 44% workers who have not participated in workplace volunteering.
- Almost two thirds (64%) say their mental health and wellbeing was positively impacted.
- 89% say it makes them feel proud to work for their employer
- 83% are more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work due to its volunteering program.
- 83% consider volunteering opportunities important when looking for a new role, demonstrating the role volunteering has in attracting talent.
Giving back to the Community
Amazon runs volunteering initiatives year-round, supporting communities across Australia, from disaster relief and food security to education and youth development. Examples include packing relief items for communities affected by natural disasters, cooking hot meals with OzHarvest, and making sandwiches to combat food insecurity.
On the 1st May, Amazon kicked off the 2025 Global Month of Volunteering in Sydney, when volunteers from across the business came together at Amazon’s Western Sydney Robotics Site to pack 1,451 Disaster Relief Kits for non-profit partners. Over the month, disaster relief kits have been packed at Amazon fulfilment centres across Australia, to be housed in Amazon’s six Disaster Relief Hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, ready to be dispatched to those in need as quickly as possible when disasters strike.
A standout partnership from this year’s Global Month of Volunteering is with Eat-Up, an organisation on a mission to feed hungry school kids so they can learn, grow and thrive. Amazon Australia teams have already made over 14,000 sandwiches this month for school children in need and, by the close of the month, Amazon Australia teams will have hosted 14 sandwich-making events.
Lyndon Galea, Founder of Eat-Up said: “Amazon is our largest corporate sandwich-making partner, and their dedication is an inspiring example of what corporate leadership with heart looks like. Supercharging their efforts during their Global Month of Volunteering is helping feed hungry kids in schools across the country while also bringing their teams together in a hands-on, meaningful way.”
How volunteering builds stronger teams
The research shows that volunteering doesn’t just benefit the community - it also plays a powerful role in building workplace culture, fostering deeper, interpersonal connections and a shared sense of purpose among teams. More than half (55%) of employees say volunteering alongside colleagues boosts workplace satisfaction, while 64% report benefits to their mental health and wellbeing. Importantly, 90% of workers believe they benefit just as much from volunteering as the community organisations they support - highlighting the reciprocal power of giving back.
Nearly 60% of respondents say volunteering with colleagues positively impacts team cohesion and unity, with almost a third (31%) reporting stronger team relationships as a direct result of volunteering.
“Volunteering offers our Amazonians a chance to step outside their everyday roles and connect with something bigger,” said Charlotte Richardson, Amazon Social Impact Manager in Australia. “It is not just about the impact we have in the community, it’s also about the sense of purpose, wellbeing and connection that our teams take back into the workplace. The research confirms what we have long seen firsthand: giving back helps people feel more fulfilled and more engaged at work.”
For employers, actively organising and supporting workplace volunteering isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s a meaningful way to invest in employee wellbeing, connection and engagement.
About the research
The research was commissioned by Herd MSL and Amazon and was conducted by Lonergan Research in accordance with the ISO 20252 standard. Lonergan Research surveyed 1,200 Australian workers 18+ with a boost of Australian workers that have participated in workplace volunteering. Surveys were distributed throughout Australia including both capital city and non-capital city areas. The survey was conducted online amongst members of a permission based panel, between 6 and 13 of May 2025. After interviewing, data was weighted to the latest population estimates sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
