Zappos pays you $2,000 to quit... during the recruiting process http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-09-16/why-zappos-of...
That's new hires who've done at least a week of training, not applicants. There's a world of difference in between.
Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
111–120 of 143 posts
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#112The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. However, Dan Ariely has explained that the secondary effect is potentially more powerful. For those that choose to stay, they will forever live with their past action of having turned down lots of money to work there. So, when they're having a crappy day and hating their job, they're probably thinking "why didn't I take the money a…
>The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees.
I would argue the opposite. This policy is going to get rid of the most ambitious of your lower-paid folks, leaving you with people who have loyalty - and those who don't feel they have other options. the "lifers" who want to stay with your company long-term, even at the cost of their long-term career. I mean, those people can be good employees to have, but I wouldn't call them more motivated than the folks who will switch jobs for a 20% bonus. (oh god, do you remember when you went from $20/hr to $25/hr? you feel it in a way that you don't feel going from $40/hr to $50/hr)
I mean, I'm not going to switch jobs for five grand, unless I was going to switch jobs otherwise... but that's because it's a very small portion of my yearly income as a percentage. If amazon is offering this to warehouse workers who presumably make around $25K/yr, that's 20% of a yearly salary.
For a 20% bonus? Yeah, I'd probably switch jobs. Or just take a nice long vacation. But, I'm also not the sort to stick with a company if I don't think it's furthering my own career goals.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#113The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. However, Dan Ariely has explained that the secondary effect is potentially more powerful. For those that choose to stay, they will forever live with their past action of having turned down lots of money to work there. So, when they're having a crappy day and hating their job, they're probably thinking "why didn't I take the money a…
>The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. I would argue the opposite. This policy is going to get rid of the most ambitious of your lower-paid folks, leaving you with people who have loyalty - and those who don't feel they have other options. the "lifers" who want to stay with your company long-term, even at the cost of their long-term career. I mean, those people can be…
Ambition for $2-5k?
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The first (and stated) effect of this policy is to weed out the unmotivated employees. I would argue the opposite. This policy is going to get rid of the most ambitious of your lower-paid folks, leaving you with people who have loyalty - and those who don't feel they have other options. the "lifers" who want to stay with your company long-term, even at the cost of their long-term career. I mean, those people can be…
Ambition for $2-5k?
If you are making $25k a year working in a warehouse, another five grand is absolutely huge.
I agree that if you are giving this to people making $100K+ per year, it doesn't really have the same impact. Five grand is about what I'd expect for a "hey, you are doing okay but not stellar" annual raise within the company.
My big point, though, was that ambition and loyalty are often conflicting motivations.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#115A few years ago I worked at a place where the CEO instituted this policy in the wake of reading about Zappos doing it. I remember him standing up at the weekly company meeting and offering a few thousand dollars to anyone who quit. The thing is, a week earlier, another coworker had put in his two weeks, and the look on his face upon hearing that announcement... I'm not sure if he ever got the money, but oh well. C'es…
I have a vaguely similar anecdote. A former employer of mine withheld bonuses from the entire team since I had recently given my notice. They were quite open about the fact that they would give out the bonuses once I had left, and just didn't want me to get a slice of that particular pie.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thank you for clarifying this, it was a source of confusion for me as well. Not to sound elitist, but what is $5k to a software engineer making 120k/year regardless of the cost of living in Seattle. This makes more sense.
$5k is still a lot of money for somebody making $120k/year
A single semimonthly paycheck.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#117A few years ago I worked at a place where the CEO instituted this policy in the wake of reading about Zappos doing it. I remember him standing up at the weekly company meeting and offering a few thousand dollars to anyone who quit. The thing is, a week earlier, another coworker had put in his two weeks, and the look on his face upon hearing that announcement... I'm not sure if he ever got the money, but oh well. C'es…
I have a vaguely similar anecdote. A former employer of mine withheld bonuses from the entire team since I had recently given my notice. They were quite open about the fact that they would give out the bonuses once I had left, and just didn't want me to get a slice of that particular pie.
Why didn't they just give out bonuses while you were still there, and give you $0?
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#118Isn't this just Severance?
Yes, and it prevents you from gathering unemployment, which is generally much more than $5k.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#119About 5 years ago during worst of the downturn, I took $20,000 USD option our consulting firm gave and voluntarily quit a $120,000 base salary job. At the time, I thought that job sucked pretty bad and was looking for an out anyhow. I've been an entrepreneur ever since. No quick success story to tell - I've been bootstrapping for 5 years in China and it's been hard. But I've been happier overall focusing everyday on…
Yes, I can see how your experience can be a valuable lesson to warehouse workers.
Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job
#120So OpenSSL team has opportunity to make $3K profit and not have to deal with Heartbleed-scale shenanigans?