USA TODAY International Edition
AMAZON TO EXPERIMENT WITH PART- TIME TECH TEAMS
Unusual effort may appeal to employees needing outside time
In an effort to lure hard- to- hire tech workers and possibly recast its reputation as a harsh workplace, Amazon plans to pilot a program of parttime teams composed entirely of employees putting in 30- hour weeks.
The Seattle company will hire entire teams of engineers and tech staff who will all work 30 hours a week, thus side- stepping many of the problems faced by part- time workers in a full- time environment.
The pilot teams’ core hours would be Monday through Thursday from 10 a. m. to 2 p. m., with flexible hours throughout the week. The 30- hour groups would receive the same benefits as 40- hour- a- week employees but less pay, Amazon said.
The plan is smart from a recruiting standpoint and a unique strategy in the highly competitive tech world, said Kate Kennedy with the Society for Human Resource Management.
“The hours would be particularly appealing to workers with children in school,” she said.
This may help it attract more women, who are under- represented at tech companies including Amazon, where 61% of Amazon’s global staff is male. A culture that’s not amenable to working parents is one reason women say they leave the tech industry.
Amazon may be surprised when workers with other backgrounds apply.
“This isn’t just good for wom- en. Not all parents are women and not all women are parents. This would be good for anyone who has obligations outside of work or who simply wants a better work- life balance,” said Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, a San Francisco strategy firm that advises tech companies on how to build diverse and inclusive organizations.
Like many tech companies, Amazon is in a constant fight to find more technical workers. The company has been on a hiring spree. In its July earnings statement, Amazon said it had 268,900 permanent employees, a gain of 23,700 employees over the previous quarter and a 47% increase year- over- year.
Amazon’s plans for the new teams, posted Thursday, come a year after the New York Times published a bruising story about the competitive and unforgiving workplace culture of the Seattle online retailer. Amazon said the article omitted information about the company that painted a different picture.
The structure could spread through the tech world, where hiring technical staff is a struggle and bringing in more women and minorities is on many companies’ to- do lists.
Amazon is such a leader as an employer that “when they do something, other people pay attention,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York, who called the concept ground- breaking. She’s only heard of a few law and accounting firms that have tried anything similar.
The company, in an invitation to potential workers on its website, said the pilot program is aimed at the company’s “diverse workforce” and the realization that a traditional full- time schedule might not be a “one size fits all” model.
An Amazon spokesperson had no comment.
While many Amazon employees work a reduced 30- hour per week schedule, the difference here is that the entire team would be composed of part- time employees, including managers.
“We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth,” an electronic invitation posted on its website said. Amazon will hold an open meeting to introduce the concept next Thursday in Seattle.
Since 2005, the number of workplaces that allow employees to work part time has dropped 13%, data from the Families and Work Institute shows.
Part- time work has long been seen as not ‘ real work,’ the Institute’s Galinsky said. While U. S. employers are increasingly allowing workers more flexibility in start times and working from home, it’s more in aid of letting them work more hours, not fewer.
However, many people who want demanding jobs may still not want to work 40 or more hours per week. The innovation in the Amazon 30- hour teams would be to legitimize the idea that professionals could be committed to their jobs and yet not work full time.
“We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth.” Electronic invitation posted on Amazon’s website