According to Insider, this move signals a potentially major shift in Amazon’s approach to compensation.
Citing an internal memo, the report said Amazon has told executives that stock awards for employees, called Restricted Stock Units, or RSUs, for 2025 “will be reduced due to the economic climate and company budget.”
Amazon will re-evaluate the 2025 offset in the first quarter of next year to “plan for inventory variation.”
The “final look-ahead year” refers to 2025, given the two-year grant cycle starting next year, the report said.
The memo also hinted at a change in Amazon’s compensation model that would give employees more money, “a change that could offset a potential weakness in the share price.”
Amazon shares are currently trading at about the same level as they were in 2018 and 2020.
“The lack of equity valuation has led some employees to complain about the value of their RSU-based compensation. Any move to increase the cash portion of employee pay could allay such concerns,” the report said.
An Amazon spokesperson said the change to Amazon’s compensation structure is a possibility, not a final plan, and that the compensation philosophy “remains unchanged.”
Meanwhile, Amazon has laid off more than 100 employees across its gaming divisions, including Prime Gaming, Game Growth and Amazon Games, as part of ongoing layoffs at the company.
In March, the e-commerce giant announced it was laying off an additional 9,000 employees across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twitch, advertising and HR.
Amazon initially cleared 18,000 positions in January.
