Amazon Emails Staff With News It Miscalculated Their Compensation

Corporate employees at Amazon got emails about promotions and raises. Then they got emails saying the raises weren't quite what they thought. From a report: A one-time bonus that was part of their compensation package had been miscalculated due to a software error and would be lower than what they had been told, according to an email sent on Thursday and viewed by Insider. The bonuses had initially been calculated using older, higher stock prices, according to Insider, and about 40% of promoted employees this quarter were affected by the error.

"We identified and immediately corrected an issue with some newly promoted employees' compensation communications," an Amazon spokesperson told Fortune. We are working with employees to ensure they understand their updated compensation." Compensation has been a major issue across the tech sector this year as a strong labor market heats up competition for workers. Earlier this year, Amazon announced its plan to double its maximum base salary to $350,000 to attract talent, something that workers at Google cited after the company's annual internal survey revealed their dissatisfaction with pay.

Re:

[JaredOfEuropa]

That's great, but if this a genuine mistake, why should they?

Re:

[pimpsoftcom]

Not the OP but if a company lies about compensation, then yes that company should be punished for it.

The cold, hard fact is that Amazon wants to be seen as a technology company that can get the work done and do it correctly and successfully. And so if they make a public statement based on their calculations and it's wrong, then they should be held fully accountable for that.

If their mistake means somebody else gets hurt because they thought they were getting a bonus that they're not going to get, that's on

Re:

[chill]

Lies are intentional, this was a mistake that they corrected as soon as they noticed it. Good luck proving intent.

Re:

[WankerWeasel]

They can push it, but Amazon can also simply terminate them. Washington is also an at-will state, meaning the employer can terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all. That guy that sued the company doesn't last long at any company and you can bet any future employer is going to find out and be wary of hiring someone who's previously taken legal action against their employer. It may not be right but it happens all the time.

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[pete6677]

That's likely the real purpose of this: to get people to quit. Amazon makes a "mistake" that they know will piss people off, but can be defended as an innocent error. They WANT people to get pissed off and quit, because they want to reduce headcount without having to actually have layoffs.

Re:If they are in WA they can sue

[WankerWeasel]

Also means they don't have to pay unemployment if people choose to leave rather than having to let them go themselves. And yes, this event is less likely to get popular press (I don't expect someone like CNN or CBS to cover this story) than if Amazon announced layoffs.

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[Dragonslicer]

Do you really think someone is going to quit their job over this kind of mistake before they have another job lined up?

Re: If they are in WA they can sue

[Corbets]

I wonder how many people really believe stuff like this. No CEO thinks âoeoh, I can have a painful media fuckup, and it will cost me the goodwill of staff for years to come, but Iâ(TM)ll get out of a small amount of salary related befits when firing people.

Theyâ(TM)d rather just do a mass layoff and be done with it.

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[JaredOfEuropa]

The law says they can, not that they should. So, if the company made a mistake, is that something you ought to exploit and maybe wrangle a few extra bucks from them through the courts? I don't know about you, but I like to earn my bonus, not trick the company out of it.

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[Petersko]

Where does the law say that?

Re:

[FuegoFuerte]

RCW 49.44.050
Fraud by employment agent.
Every employment agent or broker who, with intent to influence the action of any person thereby, shall misstate or misrepresent verbally, or in any writing or advertisement, any material matter relating to the demand for labor, the conditions under which any labor or service is to be performed, the duration thereof or the wages to be paid therefor, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

There are a couple bits here that make this totally non-applicable. The first is the "

Re:

[Petersko]

It's also just about employment agencies. It's in the title. It's to prevent predatory agents from taking advantage of people who need employment. It's not about current employees at all.

Wow

[Cpt_Kirks]

Hope nobody made a down payment on a pool or anything.

I'd like to work at Amazon.

[Anonymous Coward]

$350K just to push a broom sounds good to me.

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[thegarbz]

Hope nobody made a down payment on a pool or anything.

You'd be a special kind of stupid to put a down payment based on a bonus not yet paid out and in a way that would leave you unable to afford said pool if the bonus wasn't available.

Lots of things can happen between when bonuses are announced and when they are paid out. This isn't just your regular paycheck which you have some form of contractual obligation to receive. There's a world of grey laws depending on jurisdiction of what your entitlement is to bonuses.

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[omnichad]

This is a reference to a movie [wikipedia.org] where an expected bonus did not happen.

Re: Wow

[Alypius]

It did happen, it's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year long!

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[Tussaud]

They will probably just get a Jelly of the Month subscription now.

time for an union strike!

[Joe_Dragon]

time for an union strike!

Thanks Bob

[atheos]

"We fixed the glitch"

I misread the story title

[93 Escort Wagon]

Although it seems to fit - where it says "miscalculated" I initially saw "emasculated".

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[A10Mechanic]

It all works out the same for the employees regardless.

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[AmazingRuss]

Nope... at Amazon gelding happens during orientation, not promotion.

Bait and Switch.....

[Proudrooster]

Hey, if you stay here and slave away and hit your targets, you will get a sweet BONUS of $BIG_NUMBER.

((World Collapses))

We apologize there was a software error, we were off by 40% on that $BIG_NUMBER.

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[CAIMLAS]

There are almost certainly employees pissed off about this who are compensated largely on the basis of stock share - they just had a stock split. So while it's not the end of the world... the stock prices are 40% lower today than prior to the split merely because Amazon decided to, effectively, print money.

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[ElizabethGreene]

A stock split or reverse split does not "print money". The company doesn't make any money from doing it, as it only effects shares currently issued.

i.e. on Monday you own one share worth $50. On Tuesday you own two shares worth $100. The company doesn't get anything from that.

The value of shares does tend to increase post-split, but the company doesn't make money off that either unless they sell new shares.

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[whoever57]

i.e. on Monday you own one share worth $50. On Tuesday you own two shares worth $100

I don't think stock spits work like that.

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[ElizabethGreene]

Frack, I derped it. That should be....
on Monday you own one share worth $50. On Tuesday you own two shares worth $25 each, $50 total.

Sharp Healthcare just did the same thing...

[AmazingRuss]

... and as you might expect, it isn't good for morale. Like Amazon, they have the profits to make good on it, but have chosen to fuck over their employees.

It's not that big a deal.

[Petersko]

These are intended raises and bonuses, right? As in future? It's not like these things were paid, and are now being clawed back. It's cause for disappointment, sure...

This doesn't appear malicious. Somebody fat-fingered something somewhere.

Re:

[AmazingRuss]

Maybe... or maybe somebody decided "they'll work for less, take it back"

Pay

[phantomfive]

maximum base salary to $350,000 to attract talent, something that workers at Google cited after the company's annual internal survey revealed their dissatisfaction with pay.

Two lessons here:

1) Google getting rid of perks etc [slashdot.org] will make employees not enjoy their jobs, and will suddenly make them want more money.

2) On an internal survey, always complain about something. It's the way your working conditions get better.

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[thegarbz]

2) On an internal survey, always complain about something. It's the way your working conditions get better.

Your working conditions are tied to a specific plan. Management already expects everyone to complain about something and merely uses surveys to direct their allocation to a specific area. These surveys are really very meaningless to your working conditions on the grand scheme of things.

Re:

[phantomfive]

I've seen CxOs take those surveys seriously recently. Maybe 20 years ago they didn't (actually I don't remember these surveys existing 20 years ago). This story is another example of a CEO taking it seriously.

Need some programmers?

[Tony Isaac]

I hear some Amazon developers might not be so happy with their pay raises and are looking for options!

What if the bug was in the other direction?

[ayesnymous]

And it gave lower raises than it should have. Would the company still have sent out the second email?