topic Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit in Community Chat

Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

lovescats — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 02:50:55 GMT

The program starts with $2,000 the first year and rises by $1,000 a year. Why? So only motivated employees stay.

Here's our favorite part of Amazon (AMZN -4.43%) CEO Jeff Bezos' annual letter to shareholders.

He describes how the company will pay Amazon's warehouse workers up to $5,000 to quit their jobs.

The intent of the program is to ensure that Amazon retains only people who really, really want to work at Amazon.

"The second program is called Pay to Quit. It was invented by the clever people at Zappos, and the Amazon fulfillment centers have been iterating on it. Pay to Quit is pretty simple. Once a year, we offer to pay our associates to quit. The first year the offer is made, it’s for $2,000. Then it goes up one thousand dollars a year until it reaches $5,000. The headline on the offer is 'Please Don’t Take This Offer.' We hope they don’t take the offer; we want them to stay. Why do we make this offer? The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want. In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don’t want to be isn’t healthy for the employee or the company."

But I don't know if I believe Amazon's intentions are true. Maybe the turnover at Amazon isn't high enough. Wouldn't amazon benefit more from turnover at entry level positions rather than someone staying and gaining seniority? A 401k wouldn't be fully vested until 7 years ? And why only warehouse workers?

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

ennui1 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:00:40 GMT

On 4/10/2014 lovescats said:
And why only warehouse workers?

What else is there? The whole company is warehouse.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

croemer — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:04:30 GMT

Who would quit for 1-5,000 dollars..don't they need a job?

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Jannabelle — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:07:09 GMT

On 4/10/2014 croemer said:
Who would quit for 1-5,000 dollars..don't they need a job?

Can you quit and reapply? Lol

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

aubnwa01 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:08:05 GMT

On 4/10/2014 ennui1 said:
On 4/10/2014 lovescats said:
<em>And why only warehouse workers?</em>

What else is there? The whole company is warehouse.

Amazon occupies many very large office buildings in the Lake Union area of downtown Seattle & I doubt there are many if any, warehouses there.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

foundinlv — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:08:39 GMT

When I was working while married I always volunteered for the early out when it was offered. I couldn't wait to get out of there early. So, I might have taken the 5k but would have discussed it first with my husband. If it was my only source of income, then no.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

croemer — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 06:10:22 GMT

On 4/10/2014 Jannabelle said:
On 4/10/2014 croemer said:
Who would quit for 1-5,000 dollars..don't they need a job?

Can you quit and reapply? Lol

And quit and reapply...and quit...and...well you get the picture?

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Kachina624 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:10:51 GMT

Jeff Bezos must sit in his office and dream up goofy schemes. First there was drone delivery and now this.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

ennui1 — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:25:45 GMT

On 4/10/2014 aubnwa01 said:
On 4/10/2014 ennui1 said:
On 4/10/2014 lovescats said:
<em>And why only warehouse workers?</em>

What else is there? The whole company is warehouse.

Amazon occupies many very large office buildings in the Lake Union area of downtown Seattle & I doubt there are many if any, warehouses there.

I'm sure that's a very small percentage of the total operation.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Elstongunn — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 07:41:13 GMT

That's not a clever idea. It's a dumb idea and illustrates how out-of-touch the ultra-wealthy are with the average American worker who struggles to find and keep employment.

What a Bozo.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Chalcedony — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:13:22 GMT

It's an interesting concept, and I wonder how many have taken it. They're not forcing anyone out, or laying anyone off. They are putting out an incentive for those who really don't want to be there to leave, and stop being potential boat anchors on the morale of the organization. Those who really need the job are already likely to be motivated to do well and work hard, benefitting the organization.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

brii — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:15:42 GMT

On 4/11/2014 kachina624 said: Jeff Bezos must sit in his office and dream up goofy schemes. First there was drone delivery and now this.

lol

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Mominohio — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:43:41 GMT

On 4/11/2014 Chalcedony said: It's an interesting concept, and I wonder how many have taken it. They're not forcing anyone out, or laying anyone off. They are putting out an incentive for those who really don't want to be there to leave, and stop being potential boat anchors on the morale of the organization. Those who really need the job are already likely to be motivated to do well and work hard, benefitting the organization.

I totally agree. Especially in tough economic times, people stay in jobs they don't like and aren't effective in because they need the money/benefits, and there is little else out there. I think this cleans house, gets rid of people who are dragging down the entire operation. It is also a great opportunity for those wanting to move on, as it gives them something to go on while they look for employment that better suits them.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

teachergal — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 14:02:02 GMT

It's called a buy out. Companies do this all the time for early retirement incentives, only most companies offer a lot more the $5K.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

millieshops — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:38:31 GMT

Hello!!!! This was not first an Amazon idea. If you read the whole post, the concept started at Zappos, so I suspect Amazon had a chance to hear how it was working for them before bringing it to Amazon. It probably helps them "encourage" the truly dissatisfied to move on to something they like better.

Satisfied employees do make a difference. Just this week I read an article about workers who just got a raise because their state raised the minimum wage. The owner expected he'd be out all kinds of money, but he discovered that his employees who were now earning more were happier and working harder - and his business was doing better, not worse. (BTW- this article was in a paper known to think practically everything O wants is wrong. I give them credit for admitting he may be right on the minimum wage.)

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

straykatz — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:07:08 GMT

Happy employees are productive employees.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

lovescats — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:04:01 GMT

I couldn't find this article yesterday when I first saw the headline. I get a newsletter from bookriot and this an article from a couple of weeks ago. I think amazon is very clever in offering this but I think it's to keep a fresh supply of young quick workers. Almost like science fiction. Neither of these 2 articles are very long to read at the links.

http://bookriot.com/2014/02/19/amazon-warehouse-problem/

There are no laws that state how fast you can run in a warehouse, and internet retail has capitalized on this, putting their warehouse workers into situations that are consistently grueling and sometimes dangerous. The piece concludes with a brief nod to Amazon’s role in the internet-retail-warehouse game. In order to get books (and other products) out on time, Amazon has allowed and encouraged its warehouse workers to toil under inhumane conditions.

http://articles.mcall.com/2011-09-18/news/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917_1_warehouse-workers-heat-stress-brutal-heat

Temporary employees interviewed said few people in their working groups actually made it to a permanent Amazon position. Instead, they said they were pushed harder and harder to work faster and faster until they were terminated, they quit or they got injured. Those interviewed say turnover at the warehouse is high and many hires don't last more than a few months.

The supply of temporary workers keeps Amazon's warehouse fully staffed without the expense of a permanent workforce that expects raises and good benefits. Using temporary employees in general also helps reduce the prospect that employees will organize a union that pushes for better treatment because the employees are in constant flux, labor experts say. And Amazon limits its liability for workers' compensation and unemployment insurance because most of the workers don't work for Amazon, they work for the temp agency.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

stilltamn8r — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:08:26 GMT

Wow, it would have to be a pretty lousy job to quit for only $5000- however, if you were thinking of quitting anyway, why not wit till they offer the $$ (which they evidently do every year) and then take advantage of it?

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

Lion — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:08:59 GMT

I love Amazon. It's a very successful business.

Whatever Jeff Bezos is doing sitting in that office, I hope he keeps doing it.

Re: Amazon offers workers $5,000 to quit

lovescats — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 17:23:30 GMT

Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/