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When Amazon announced Tuesday that she was raising her minimum wage to $ 15 at the hour for all employees, even virulent critics with regard to her work practices such as Senator Bernie Sanders have praised the society. The decision of the retail giant will undoubtedly put more money at the disposal of its workers – especially the approximately 100,000 temporary US employees that Amazon plans to hire in the coming months for the holiday season. But some Amazon workers, including the one who spoke to WIRED, think that they will earn less with the new policy, even if they receive an hourly increase.
In addition to raising wages, Amazon is also reducing some performance bonuses and its restricted share unit program. In total, workers say the loss of benefits can mean thousands of dollars of lost wages a year. The median salary for Amazon employees in the United States, including shares and bonuses, is $ 34,123, depending on the company. (This figure includes office workers at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.)
Especially during the holiday season, bonuses that are going to be removed soon can be worth more than $ 300 a month, says the WIRED employee. "The moment chosen for that; I do not think it's such a coincidence, "says the worker, employed at an Amazon distribution center on the east coast. "November and December were the months they were going to double attendance and productivity bonuses." (WIRED gives workers anonymity to protect them from retaliation from their employer.)
These are not just bonuses that are being cut. Amazon is also ending its Restricted Stock Subscription Program (RSU), which allows employees to acquire shares of the company after two years. In recent years, Amazon has consistently reduced the number of RSUs it has granted to employees, as its share price has more than doubled. Many warehouse employees typically receive several PSUs per year, although their numbers have decreased as Amazon shares have gained value, according to the employee.
Amazon said in its blog post announcing the $ 15 minimum wage that it was choosing to phase out the IAUs because "our order and customer service employees told us that they preferred the predictability and immediacy of money. " the program providing for a direct share purchase plan before the end of next year and whose hourly increases are intended to help offset the loss of PSUs. But Amazon is still vague about how it plans to count lost productivity bonuses, which worries some workers.
"There are a lot of people who are upset," says the Amazon worker. "[Employees] a bigger increase, but that still did not compensate for the actions plus the bonuses. "
There is also confusion over the possibility of offering an equity program to Whole Foods employees, some of whom would have tried to form a union, according to Gizmodo. (Amazon acquired the high-end grocery chain last year.)
Amazon is contesting the fact that employees will earn less because of the reduction in the UAR program and incentive bonuses. "The significant increase in hourly cash wages more than makes up for the gradual removal of the incentive bonus and RSUs," said a spokesman for the company in a statement. "We can confirm that this announcement will result in an increase in total compensation for all Operations and Customer Service employees every hour. In addition, as it is no longer based on incentives, compensation will be more immediate and predictable. "
The employee who spoke to WIRED says he will lose at least $ 1,400 a year as a result of the removal of benefits, despite a $ 1 increase in his hourly wage. When WIRED provided Amazon with the employee's calculations, the company did not dispute their accuracy.
In a sense, Amazon has good reason to remove previously offered benefits and provide employees with more cash. One of the bonuses to expire, for example, was to determine if an employee's entire warehouse was meeting productivity goals – a factor that no one worker can control. In addition, the RSUs have not been acquired for two years; Many warehouse employees do not work long enough in the company to claim them, which costs millions of dollars each year.
"This is not just about offering [Amazon workers] most of them will not receive any compensation, "said Valerie Frederickson, CEO and founder of the Silicon Valley-based Frederickson Partners Human Resources Company. "In a way, it's a false compensation."
However, increasing hourly wages and reducing the aforementioned benefits can still hurt some Amazon workers, especially those who have a good job performance and who stay long enough to claim an equity stake in the company. . Amazon's new pay structure seems more geared to attracting new employees into today's tight labor market, rather than keeping loyal employees in the company longer. After all, in the coming weeks, Amazon will have to start competing with other retailers who are also hiring additional help for the holiday season.
Amazon has probably also increased its minimum wage to remove criticism from politicians such as Sanders, who last month introduced a bill called the "Stop BEZOS Act," which aims to hold large employers financially responsible when their workers Low pay must count food vouchers to make ends meet. The bill was introduced after Amazon spent months responding to negative reports about its grueling and low-paying work practices.
By increasing wages, Amazon can also try to ensure that its employees do not choose to organize collectively. At the end of last month, Gizmodo released excerpts from a training video that the company distributed to managers at Whole Foods, which appears to teach them to identify and deter potential employees from forming a union. Amazon workers have also tried several times to organize for years. However, by setting up a compensation structure that could put some long-term employees out of business, Amazon's plan to quell the desire for collective bargaining may have turned against it.
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