Amazon piloting 30-hour workweek

Amazon.com will soon launch a program to experiment with a 30-hour workweek for select employees.

The program will have a few technical teams made up entirely of part-time workers. These 30-hour employees will be salaried and receive the same benefits as traditional 40hour workers, but they will receive only 75 percent of the pay full-time workers earn. Currently, the company employs part-time workers that share the same benefits as full-time workers. However, the pilot program would differ in that an entire team would work reduced hours.

Currently, the pilot program will be small, consisting of a few dozen people. These teams will work on tech products within the human resources division of the company, working from Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with additional flex hours. Their salaries will be lower than those of 40-hour workers, but they will have the option to transition to full-time if they choose.

Team members will be hired from both inside and outside the company. As of now, Amazon does not have plans to alter the 40-hour workweek on a companywide level, the spokesperson said.

AB InBev job cuts: Anheuser-Busch InBev expects to cut about 3 percent of its enlarged workforce in the three years after its takeover of SABMiller as it seeks to maximize savings from the combination of the world’s largest brewers. The reductions will be implemented gradually and in phases, the companies said in documents related to the acquisition published Friday. About 5,500 positions are likely to be eliminated.