Amazon’s decision to raise the hourly wage of its employees to $15 an hour was met with widespread praise this week, but there is a reported downside. Amazon announced in a blog post on Oct. 2 the change to its minimum wage, and also mentioned that it would be shifting its stock options because employees “prefer the predictability and immediacy of cash to RSUs,” or “restricted stock units.”
The blog post does not mention the elimination of monthly bonuses, which could total hundreds of dollars per month, according to reporting from Bloomberg.
Several Amazon employees have criticized the move. One employee told the Verge via email that many Amazon employees rely on the performance-based monthly bonuses, and will end up losing thousands of dollars per year with the new minimum wage.
“The significant increase in hourly cash wages more than compensates for the phase-out of incentive pay and RSUs,” Amazon’s spokesperson emailed in a statement to CNBC. “We can confirm that all hourly Operations and Customer Service employees will see an increase in their total compensation as a result of this announcement. In addition, because it’s no longer incentive-based, the compensation will be more immediate and predictable.”
Amazon also announced that its public policy team would begin advocating for a rise to the federal minimum wage. Any employees at Amazon who already make $15 an hour will also receive a raise, according to the blog post.
H/T the Verge