Amazon is experimenting with using its technical teams on only a part-time basis, while still providing them with full-time benefits.
This work arrangement applies to all employees within qualifying tech teams, including managers. Core hours for employees who are given this opportunity will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., while there will also be “additional flex work hours throughout the week.”
Amazon is largely taking on this experiment because they want to change their reputation of being a tough place to work. Competitors have been providing increasingly lucrative benefits and flexible work arrangements, which has only further forced Amazon’s hand.
The e-commerce giant will present the initiative at an event on August 25. They note that at Amazon “the concept of part-time employment is not new… What is novel for Amazon is the creation of teams that are entirely comprised of part-time employees, including managers.”
Amazon believes that even with reduced hours, part-time employees will still be able to share the same corporate goal of building “great things on behalf of our customers.”
The new initiative is part of a greater effort on the part of Amazon to mend its image, to both employees and the public.
Last November, Amazon extended its parental leave benefits to cover up to 20 weeks, and in April, it partnered with a non-profit in order to address homelessness in Seattle.
Although Amazon denies that it was the reason for their implementation of this new policy, the company received some negative press last year for its corporate culture.
