Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#61

Post by infinite8s » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 3:40 PM UTC

sixothree wrote: post #32

dingaling wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For those that choose to stay, they will forever live with their past action of having turned down lots of money to work there. $5,000 isn't really lots of money ; it's probably about six months of mortgage payments in an average town. On a 25-year mortgage that doesn't make much of a dent. Better to keep grumbling, keep earning and keep a roof over the family.

I'm guessing for many people at amazon it might be two months salary.

Yeah, agreed, this is for their warehouse employees, not their software developers.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#62

Post by sib » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 3:41 PM UTC

nemtaro wrote: post #58

As someone who actually worked at Amazon for a few long years, I'm always skeptical of such seemingly positive news, and often think "hmm, could this be another marketing trick to influence people's perception of Amazon rather than actually changing anything", and %90 of the time I'm right :) Here's how their typical financial offer is structured for new software engineers: 1st year: signing bonus + relocation bonus…

Note that this offer is for fulfillment center employees, not software engineers.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#63

Post by everyone » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 3:51 PM UTC

Yeah Amazon are great to their permanent workers, management and so on. But what about the vast of majority of permatemp workers who do all the moving, warehouse work etc. ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waeMkka60po

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#64

Post by bowlofpetunias » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 3:55 PM UTC

Seems to me that this can only work in countries with little in the way of job protection.

If you want to get rid of someone in most EU countries, it's going to cost you a lot more for them to sign away their rights by quitting. From that perspective, this is just an attempt to get rid of people cheaply.

But exactly those people you actually want to take the offer won't, they are much better off forcing their employer to either fire them or make them a better offer.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#65

Post by msteinert » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:01 PM UTC

sharkweek wrote: post #46

jere wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your theory might explain why the offer is only made once a year. Most likely, your bad day isn't going to line up with the availability of the offer. If it was always on offer, you might be more inclined to jump ship impulsively.

I'm curious about the opposite -- I'm assuming it likely keeps dead weight around longer too; someone who isn't happy or motivated, waiting around for a few months for the 5k bonus for leaving.

For a company like Amazon a few months probably isn't significant in the grand scheme of things. They don't operate like a startup that is constantly a few months away from failure. Plus they have a lot more employees to fill in the gaps.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#66

Post by MBCook » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:15 PM UTC

A similar policy at Zappos was discussed a few years ago on the Freakonomics podcast. Here's the transcript:

http://freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/the-upside-of-quitting-fu...

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#67

Post by joosters » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:16 PM UTC

Crito wrote: post #57

joosters wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

n.b. the vast majority of Amazon warehouse workers are not actually employed by Amazon; it is unlikely that they ever get these offers.

However the offer is for warehouse workers, not for engineers.

But it is for warehouse workers employed by Amazon - which isn't many of them.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#68

Post by SifJar » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:24 PM UTC

avar wrote: post #51

jordn wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I suspect there will be people postponing quitting for a few months just so they can cash out with the offer. That's undesirable for Amazon. But I doubt you'd have people staying in a job they dislike for another year just to get an extra $1k when they do quit. Also you'll have compounded another year of turning down cash to work there so the cognitive dissonance might be even stronger.

If the offer is annual and they add an extra $1000 per year then on average the disgruntled employee has to wait 6 months to quit and get a higher severance, not 1 year. Which means that 1/4 of those employees only have to churn through 3 more months to get an extra $1000, hardly something nobody would do. The obvious solution to fix this flaw in the system would be to raise the offer daily instead of annually, be ap…

I think you misunderstood jordn's comment. When he said "staying in a job they dislike for another year just to get an extra $1k when they do quit." I think he was talking about a hypothetical situation were an employee has been working for Amazon for, say 2 years, and got offered the $2k. They'd be unlikely to wait another full year, just to be able to get $3k when they quit. In other words, if they want to quit, they will do so at the closest offer (e.g. $2k) rather than waiting another year AFTER that offer to get a larger one (e.g. $3k).

Of course it's likely employees would wait e.g. 3 months to get the "quitting bonus". In fact, jordn quite clearly stated that also, in the first line of his comment.

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#69

Post by SifJar » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:29 PM UTC

adamman wrote: post #31

jordn wrote: post #4

The 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…

They might also think, "What other place would offer me $5,000 to quit? I'm staying here." It's classic reverse psychology.

That thinking is completely stupid, because even if no where else will offer money for quitting, they are being offered it to quit in their current job. That offer is of zero benefit if they DON'T take it. Staying BECAUSE there's an incentive to quit is perhaps one of the most ridiculous thoughts I've heard. Then again, some people are very stupid.

I also don't think that's "classic reverse psychology". (Although I'm not a psychologist).

Re: Amazon Will Pay You $5,000 to Quit Your Job

#70

Post by avalaunch » Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 4:32 PM UTC

sharkweek wrote: post #46

jere wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your theory might explain why the offer is only made once a year. Most likely, your bad day isn't going to line up with the availability of the offer. If it was always on offer, you might be more inclined to jump ship impulsively.

I'm curious about the opposite -- I'm assuming it likely keeps dead weight around longer too; someone who isn't happy or motivated, waiting around for a few months for the 5k bonus for leaving.

This might actually be desirable for amazon as it likely helps them keep their employees through the rough holiday season where they probably see a larger than average quit rate. I'd be willing to bet that the choice to quit and receive compensation comes shortly after the holiday season ends, thus dangling a carrot in front of the employees to muscle through.