An Amazon Education | Hacker News Reader

An Amazon Education

bits.blogs.nytimes.com

24 pointsiProject7 comments

Unimpressive. $2,000/yr really isn't much, given the current cost of education. What they should do is offer full reimbursement for STEM training to employees who qualify. Now that would make me consider working for Amazon.

This only confirms my opinion of Amazon as a company that likes to be stingy with salaries and benefits.

It's $2000/yr bonus for minimum wage warehouse employees, not spoiled engineers.

Problem: this program isn't for spoiled engineers. Another problem for your non-argument: I'm a former Amazon warehouse associate. Even for warehouse employees, it's not a good deal. Have you read the Amazon warehouse employee blog posts here on HN recently? Education costs the same whether you're an "engineer" or a warehouse worker. As another high-karma commenter (e.g., not you) said about this same subject in another thread:

--most people working in Amazon warehouses are employed by temporary staffing firms, not Amazon

--most people working in Amazon warehouses don't come anywhere near 3 years of tenure before quitting or being fired

--reimbursement is limited to $2,000/year for four years, while $5,000/year is pretty much the minimum direct cost to take such programs

--the program is limited to full-time workers, so only those who can take classes while working full-time and mandatory-or-you-get-fired overtime can partake

From the FAQ:

> What are the maximum benefits under the program? > Amazon will pay up to 95% of the tuition, textbook and associated fees up to a maximum of $2,000 per year for four years.

Tuition for an associates degree is usually upwards of $5000. I was impressed at first; now I'm deeply disappointed and see this as little more than a PR stunt.

I think it was targeted towards the people who work in the warehouses not necessarily highly paid technical staff aiming to do their MS or MBA. Still $2000 is paltry as compared to what Google and Microsoft, other major tech employers in the area, offer.

$2000/yr for 4 years is $8000

In Washington State, an AA is 4 semesters * $1500 = $6000, completed part-time by people have jobs at Amazon.

The Amazon hate on this issue is bizarre.

That's pretty bogus. Little more than a PR stunt. Honestly, I would have more respect for Amazon if they just didn't have such a program or made it basically secret rather than treating it as a call to action for other corps to "copy."

Reply on news.ycombinator.com