After 18000 Layoffs, Amazon Employees to Face Salary Cut by 50 per cent in 2023: Report

According to CEO Andy Jassy, the market is in a "funky situation," and Amazon has already made the difficult choice to fire 18,000 employees.

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New Delhi: With a protracted decline in the value of the company's stock, Amazon corporate staff are reportedly facing a wage cut. According to Bloomberg, Amazon grants restricted stock units (RSUs) to workers, most likely in higher positions, in an effort to keep them on the team for a longer period of time. The success of the company and particular departments affects the value of the stocks.

When given RSUs, employees are encouraged to treat their work as if it were their own. According to the paper, Amazon's shares fell more than 35 percent in 2022 as a result of unfavourable macroeconomic conditions, which caused pay for 2023 to be between 15 percent and 50 percent lower than the predicted targets the company set for its employees. ()

Individuals with knowledge of the situation revealed to the publication that "The stock price rose annually by an average of roughly 30% between 2017 and early 2022. However, some employee compensation plans are set up based on the idea that Amazon's shares will trade at around $170 (nearly Rs 14,000 per share), even though the company's stock is now selling at around $96 per share (roughly Rs 7,950)." ()

According to the article, Amazon's human resources division distributed "training documents" to managers to help them deal with the wage cut. Also, managers are urged to hang onto staff until stock values start to rise.

According to rumours, Amazon normally pays employees less in base salary than its competitors, but employees make up the difference by vesting these stocks. Workers claim that the longer an Amazon employee works for the company, the more their salary may be dependent on stock awards, with stocks accounting for 50 percent or more of certain employees' overall income.

During an all-hands meeting at Amazon's Seattle headquarters, CEO Andy Jassy reportedly addressed the wage cut as well. The market, according to the CEO, is in a "funky situation," and Amazon has already made the difficult choice to fire 18,000 employees.

He continued, "Compensations are affected as a result. And that is challenging. All of that is challenging. But I have a lot of hope that we will be able to go through this difficult period comparatively stronger than when we started."

According to Bloomberg, Amazon may give staff fewer raises and has ceased giving out more RSUs. Also, Amazon has withdrawn employment offers from certain applicants who had already accepted them.