Amazon will pay its employees $10K if they quit their jobs and become delivery drivers

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It’s no secret that Amazon’s domination of the online retail industry in the US hinges on the delivery networks it uses. Now, the Seattle-based company has given its existing staff an interesting proposition to further its delivery aspirations – quit your job and we’ll help you start up an Amazon delivery business.

Announced on Monday, the offer sounds generous. Those accepted into the program and leave their jobs will get up to $10,000 of startup costs paid for by Amazon. As a sweetener, Amazon has also said those ex-employees will get three months’ worth of their current salary, to ease the transition.

Almost all Amazon employees are eligible to apply, from part-time to full-time, including those who work in the warehouses. Despite being fully owned by Amazon, Whole Foods employees are left out, with them being ineligible for the new incentives.

This push for more delivery drivers comes just after Amazon announcing its intention to change Prime delivery times from two-days to one-day

To do that, the company needs a capable delivery network, on top of the already-stretched partnerships with USPS, UPS, and FedEx. Paying ex-employees $10,000 in startup costs seems a lot, until you look at the number of Amazon benefits that those outgoing employees will likely lose. Those include Medical, Dental, school tuition, stock options, maternal leave, and other quantifiable perks.

Add the loss of those to things like the additional tax burdens of self-employment, and the offer seems less interesting, at least for full-time employees. Amazon has declined to say how many employees it expects to agree to the new program.

Is this the start of the end for Amazon warehouse workers? The company has said it’s a decade or more away from fully-automated warehousing, but imagine the public outcry if they switched over without finding alternative jobs for the existing staff? With Amazon doing everything it can to not get on the wrong side of the labor unions, this offer to job switch could be seen as a proactive measure before anyone cries foul.

What do you think? Would this offer be tempting to you? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.