Amazon to test 30-hour workweek for 75% pay

OrbitalDawn said:
You haven't made much of a case for this view, though.
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I've made as much of a case for my view as Amazon has for theirs i.e. I think x-y-z vs Amazon says x-y-z.

I personally know of more than just a couple of examples where the corporate party line was something similar and ultimately was just thinly veiled excuses for reducing staff without all that nasty perception that they retrenched people.

Amazon is also notorious for the long hours demanded from staff, from what I've heard and what a couple of quick searches will confirm the 40 hour week for 100% pay is more like a 60-80 hour week, if the same demands are placed on the 30 hour week teams that's probably a 45-60 hour week in reality.

If that's the case people are still working a full week, at reduced pay ;)
 
evilstebunny said:
Bro & his wife in Switserland's been having it. Not Amazon, but voluntary 4 day week, 3 day weekend at 80% of salary instead of having to retrench people.
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IIRC Old Mutual also offers something similar to this.
 
My employer is piloting something similar. (Less hours, same pay).

Cautiously optimistic...
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
Most likely true, it's still curious that they would implement such a cost cutting measure though. Ignore the spin around "pilot group", "work life balance" etc, it's about cutting costs, pure and simple.
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Happy employees = more productive hours = profit
 
As I recall the research shows that reducing work hours increases productive work per hour, so this proposal would benefit a company financially. They're going to gain more work per Dollar.

Blackhand said:
Might work well for some people but most passionate software engineers I know want to put in a lot hours.
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Frankly they should be locked out of the building and denied remote access. There is good evidence that longer hours lead to lower quality of work, no matter what programmers who think they're hardcore might still believe.

Can be very difficult during normal hours to really get some cutting edge work done with all the "business as usual", meetings and context switching.
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You don't solve a faulty environment by working more hours, you fix the environment.

It feels like a cost cutting measure on borderline staff.
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On the contrary I expect they'd hope their quality staff will take this up.
 
HavocXphere said:
My employer is piloting something similar. (Less hours, same pay).

Cautiously optimistic...
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Wouldn't mind this especially if it is not a per day thing. Why? it allows you to develop a 2ndary income though typically this comes with the caveat that no other employment can be resulted in essentially making it a decrease.

2ndly while it is all cool doing this, unless the company is managing their projects effectively this does nothign but mess up their delivery and you will be working the same 40hrs or more as a result of being out of sync with clients and meeting the same effective timelines albeit hours reduced. Having less hours per week does have consequences to delivery.. i know interms of IT its all about the hrs per project but from a client perspective its all about the date.. and the date needs to shift which is a bitter pill to swallow.
 
Garson007 said:
It's a productivity pilot, not a cost cutting one. They're trying to see if shorter work weeks with more employees work better than the norm.

Edit: There is a lot of research out there that this should improve productivity. This is just a practical trial.
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What I don't get is, how do they keep the employees who are now missing out on 25% of their pay, happy? If I suddenly only get 75% of my pay, I'm ****ed.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
Most likely true, it's still curious that they would implement such a cost cutting measure though. Ignore the spin around "pilot group", "work life balance" etc, it's about cutting costs, pure and simple.
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Possibly more to do about the general perception that they work their employees like slaves and have some of the lowest staff retention around.

Maybe they aren't getting in as many new recruits as they used to?
 
Ho3n3r said:
What I don't get is, how do they keep the employees who are now missing out on 25% of their pay, happy? If I suddenly only get 75% of my pay, I'm ****ed.
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I'd think companies would do this over the increase season.. effectively reducing their cost on the books(no annual increase) but yah.. unless it's managed well i see this eating more time. Since it is a pilot i wonder if they are recording hours presently and post fact and employees are encouraged to report 'true' hours.. else their data will be skewed.
 
Ho3n3r said:
What I don't get is, how do they keep the employees who are now missing out on 25% of their pay, happy? If I suddenly only get 75% of my pay, I'm ****ed.
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If you're living that close to the edge then you need to reevaluate your life choices. Move to a smaller house, buy a cheaper car, etc.
 
HavocXphere said:
More a case of them trying to bring heavy overtime hours under control tbh.


They're supposed to just add bigger team to compensate.
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Not bad then.. like i said, if managed well it works.

dualmeister said:
Apparently Amazon is hiring like crazy lately.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/amazon-hiring-1200-people-at-new-fulfillment-center-in-seattle-region/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/22/amazon-creating-more-than-2500-new-uk-jobs-2016
http://www.thejournal.ie/amazon-jobs-2795335-May2016/

Even in South Africa.
https://www.amazon.jobs/en/search?b...evant&location[]=cape-town-south-africa&cache
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Yup I'm pretty sure they must be the no. 1 employer in Cpt... pitty it's cpt tho lol.
 
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