Amazon to test 30-hour week

To support recruiting efforts, Amazon plans to test a 30-hour workweek. The program will allow participants to work from Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and log additional hours on a flexible basis. Employees get full benefits but receive 75 percent of what full-time employees earn. Workers will have the option to scale up to 40 hours a week. The test will initially involve a few dozen people in human resources. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, first reported on the program. "We want to create a work environment that is tailored to a reduced schedule and still fosters success and career growth," Amazon said in an event posting on Eventbrite.com. "This initiative was created with Amazon's diverse workforce in mind and the realization that the traditional full-time schedule may not be a 'one size fits all' model." Amazon does offer some part-time employees full-time benefits but this program places entire internal teams, including managers, on reduced hours. Deloitte and KPMG are among the few companies offering opportunities for 30-hour weeks. Labor experts still see a stigma against working part-time or reduced hours. Many working four-day weeks surpass 40 hours. The increasing flexibility could help improve Amazon's diversity, particularly supporting the needs of women managing careers and family. About three-quarters of Amazon’s managers globally are male. A New York Times investigation last year was highly critical of Amazon’s working conditions although Amazon denied many of the harshest allegations. More flexible work options could enhance Amazon's recruiting efforts in general. With the low unemployment rate, competition for talent has increased. Writing for Fortune, David Morris noted that many labor experts believe automation is lowering overall labor demand and that reduced-hours arrangements could present solutions. He wrote, “A 30-hour work week is seen by some as a way to more evenly distribute the shrinking pool of labor among workers, and reduce the potential of automation to increase income inequality.” 

• Amazon is piloting teams with a 30-hour workweek – Washington Post
• Amazon test pilots 30-hour work week – San Francisco Business Times
• What's behind Amazon's 30-hour workweek pilot program? – CBS News
• Amazon Tests 30-Hour Work Week – Fortune
• Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace – New York Times
• What The New York Times Didn’t Tell You – Medium.com
• Was Portrayal of Amazon’s Brutal Workplace on Target? – The New York Times