Amazon is increasing its base pay cap for US employees to $350,000, more than doubling its previous $160,000 maximum salary for most employees, according to an internal memo viewed by Insider.
The company said it would set new base pay ranges for each job and level and that it would increase overall compensation ranges for most jobs globally. “The increases are much more considerable than we’ve done in the past,” the memo, posted to an internal system, states. GeekWire reported on the contents of the memo earlier on Monday.
The changes will be reflected in the company’s internal system starting Feb. 9, according to the memo, and managers will review compensation with employees in April.
As Insider previously reported, Amazon employee angst over low pay — especially compared to the compensation packages offered by some of its competitors — had recently reached crisis levels, driving attrition higher across senior ranks, sources said.
“This past year has seen a particularly competitive labor market, and in doing a thorough analysis of various options, weighing the economics of our business and the need to remain competitive for attracting and retaining top talent, we decided to make meaningfully bigger increases to our compensation levels than we do in a typical year,” the memo states.
Amazon declined to comment.
Like many technology companies, Amazon compensates its corporate employees partially in cash and partially in equity, usually in the form of restricted stock units. Until this change, however, Amazon capped the base salary for most corporate workers at $160,000, going up to $185,000 for employees in the San Francisco Bay Area or New York City metropolitan areas.
The base pay caps had been a growing concern among employees.
In the company’s annual employee sentiment survey, which gauges worker reaction to a variety of subjects, base pay was the second most common reason for wanting to leave. Some 45% of respondents listed it as a factor that contributed to their desire to look for a different job in 2021, according to survey results viewed by Insider. Base pay was narrowly behind “don’t see a clear growth path,” which 45% of respondents cited. (Employees could choose more than one response.)
Insider previously reported Amazon was considering compensation changes. The company was recently quietly hiring a team to communicate changes in compensation to employees internally, a person familiar with the matter said. Insider viewed an internal document showing a six-month position in which someone would explain how compensation worked and “what changes and why,” though a job posting for the position did not appear online.
Are you an Amazon employee or do you have insight to share? Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@insider.com).