Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, has decided to raise the basic salary cap for office workers to $350,000 due to the deepening job shortage, economic media CNBC reported on the 7th (local time).
According to CNBC, Amazon sent internal memos to its employees and announced that it would more than double the basic salary cap for all office workers from $160,000 to $350,000.
The basic salary is only a part of the total salary employees receive. CNBC pointed out that the basic salary does not include cash compensation such as bonuses or stocks paid when performance is achieved. “Competition in the job market has been fierce over the past year,” Amazon said in an internal memo. “Considering business conditions and the need to increase competitiveness to attract outstanding talent, we decided to significantly increase the level of compensation from this year.”
In addition to the basic salary increase, Amazon said it has decided to raise the overall salary range for most occupations, adding, “The increase is greater than in the past.”
CNBC attributed the move to higher complaints from Amazon employees at lower salaries than market wages. Citing an internal survey, Business Insider recently reported that Amazon employees’ low basic salary was cited as the biggest reason for wanting to resign.
In the United States, companies are suffering from job shortages due to the pandemic, and job seekers are demanding higher allowances and salaries. More and more companies are providing remote work or flexible work systems to attract talent. CNBC reported, “The deepening job shortage has led Amazon and other big tech companies to admit that they could fall behind in the competition to attract talent if they do not provide benefits.”
