Amazon offers incentives to employees to start their own delivery business
As the race to deliver online goods heats up, Amazon is encouraging its employees to quit and launch their own businesses delivering goods for the online giant — and it’s even providing some funding.
Amazon on Monday announced it is launching a new incentive for current Amazon employees to start a small business owning and operating a package delivery company. The retailer said it will fund the startup costs, up to $10,000, for employees who are accepted into the program and leave their jobs. It will also provide the equivalent of three months of the former employee’s last gross salary in an effort to help the employees-turned-business-owners to get their package delivery companies off the ground.
The offer, open to most part-time and full-time Amazon employees, comes on the heels of the company’s recent move to speed up its shipping time for Prime members from two days to one. It is an expansion of Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner program, which launched in summer 2018. To date, the program has created more than 200 new small businesses that have hired thousands of local drivers to deliver packages to customers, according to Amazon.
Amazon employees who leave jobs to build their business will have “consistent delivery volume from Amazon, access to the company’s sophisticated delivery technology, hands-on training, and discounts on a suite of assets and services,” the company said. They also will have access to Amazon-branded vans customized for delivery, branded uniforms and comprehensive insurance.
“We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees,” said Dave Clark, senior VP of worldwide operations. “We’ve heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associates with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses.”
Amazon on Monday announced it is launching a new incentive for current Amazon employees to start a small business owning and operating a package delivery company. The retailer said it will fund the startup costs, up to $10,000, for employees who are accepted into the program and leave their jobs. It will also provide the equivalent of three months of the former employee’s last gross salary in an effort to help the employees-turned-business-owners to get their package delivery companies off the ground.
The offer, open to most part-time and full-time Amazon employees, comes on the heels of the company’s recent move to speed up its shipping time for Prime members from two days to one. It is an expansion of Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner program, which launched in summer 2018. To date, the program has created more than 200 new small businesses that have hired thousands of local drivers to deliver packages to customers, according to Amazon.
Amazon employees who leave jobs to build their business will have “consistent delivery volume from Amazon, access to the company’s sophisticated delivery technology, hands-on training, and discounts on a suite of assets and services,” the company said. They also will have access to Amazon-branded vans customized for delivery, branded uniforms and comprehensive insurance.
“We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees,” said Dave Clark, senior VP of worldwide operations. “We’ve heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associates with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses.”