Amazon's Stock Price Slump Weighs On Compensation And Benefits, Stings Corporate Pay

Amazon.Com, Inc's AMZN prolonged slump in the company's stock price has caused compensation for 2023 to be between 15% - 50% lower than the projected targets Amazon gave to employees.
Amazon pays its corporate employees a large chunk of their annual salaries in restricted stock units, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Historically Amazon's base-pay compensation trailed its big-tech peers but made up the difference with stock awards that vest over several years.
Also Read: Amazon Weighs Paring Back On Unprofitable Businesses Like Alexa; Introduces New Warehouse Robot To Cut Down On Lag
The longer an Amazon employee stays with the company, the higher the chances of compensation depending on stock awards, with stocks making up 50% or more of total income for some.
Over the past year, Amazon's shares have declined more than 35% amid a broader technology deceleration and slower growth in Amazon's retail business.
Amazon expected shares to appreciate at least 15% each year as it doled out the RSUs.
Between 2017 and early 2022, the stock price increased by about 30% yearly. But Amazon's stock is currently trading around $96 per share, and some employee pay packages reflected that Amazon's shares would be about $170 per share, WSJ writes.
Amazon's human resources team recently sent documents to managers about communicating what effectively amounts to a pay cut to its employees.
According to the materials, managers need to motivate employees toward the company's long-term performance and hold on to the RSU longer until there is a recovery in the company's stock price.
In 2023, Amazon plans to issue raises from 1% - 4% and not issue more RSU to employees.
By January, Amazon had laid off a record 18,000 corporate employees.
Price Action: AMZN shares trader lower by 1.03% at $96.20 premarket on the last check Tuesday.

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