Staff
Amazon.com is offering its employees up to US$5,000 to resign.
The program, called Pay to Quit, was first offered by online shoe retailer Zappos, which the company acquired in 2009.
Once a year, employees at Amazon’s fulfillment centres receive the offer.
The first year the offer is made, it’s for US$2,000. Then it goes up US$1,000 a year until it reaches US$5,000.
“We hope they don’t take the offer; we want them to stay,” writes Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a letter to shareholders.
“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.”