The head of the U.S.’s largest car dealer climbed on the bandwagon of more than 100 companies offering bonuses and additional perks to employees, all citing the Republican-backed, business-friendly tax reform bill, which was signed into law by President Trump in late December.
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AutoNation (AN) announced that it will double its matching contributions to employees’ 401(k) plans, increase its deferred compensation match to up to 100% for the first $5,500 and launch a cancer benefits program for employees diagnosed with the disease.
“If our associates or their families have a challenging situation around cancer, we are bound and determined to do everything possible to support them,” AutoNation CEO and President Mike Jackson told FOX Business’ Liz Claman.
The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company has joined more than 100 companies, all crediting the corporate tax rate reduction from 35% to 21%, in providing financial perks to employees. The latest — and perhaps biggest — company to do so is Apple (AAPL).
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The tech giant announced on Wednesday that it would award bonuses worth more than $2,500 to most of its employees, as well as create more than 20,000 jobs and build a new campus — all part of a plan that it said would contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy.
Jackson, who was recently chosen to be the new chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, lambasted how the tax system before Trump – “an onerous, over-regulated period” – stymied U.S. economic growth. Now, Jackson sees it as an opportunity for new innovation, starting with the employees.
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“Our purpose at the company, yes, is to sell cars, fix cars. And we do that quite well,” he said. “But we have embraced the greater purpose, and that is to endeavor, to partner with great research institutions for cancer, and that is to find a cure.”
