Amazon: A Premier Employer Despite Challenges in HR Recruiting - Essay Sample

Introduction

Amazon competes with some of the biggest technology giants. With its chequered reputation of high employee turnover, it does not fare well among its peers. However, it remains one of the premier employers around the world (Cain, 1).

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HR Recruiter Position

Most HR professionals fall under this bracket. Typically, they have an HR degree and 3-5 years of experience. Entry-level positions in the US attract slightly over $40,000 annually. The average income is around $57,000. The average unemployment rate for the recruiters is around 4%, which means that the competition for the candidates is high. This problem is compounded by the fact that demand for HR professionals is in an upward trend.

Sources of Recruitment

Currently, the company has a broader scope of recruitment, including targeting universities and training institutions, online job recruitment, and even using headhunters to find new hires. Internal promotions are also sources of new hires.

Determination of the Labor Market

Firms tend to use the average compensation of competing firms. Amazon does not seem to utilize this standard and often sets its pay structure based on position, expertise, and experience. Negotiation also has a big say on the final compensation plan. For this position, Amazon utilizes the market position to set base pay. For example, recruiters begin at $49,000. The figure goes all the way to $114,000 for senior recruiters.

Payment Offers

Salary $49k - $101k

Bonus in the form of grant Restricted Stock Units $7k - $48k

Profit-Sharing $3k - $13k

Total Pay $49k - $114k

Courtesy of payscale.com

Base Pay

The current base pay structure for the recruiter position at amazon is in line with the base pay structure for this position (BLS, 2019). Amazon does not seem to have a specific way of determining base pay. Instead, it sets the base based on prevailing market conditions, negotiation, and experience.

In addition, amazon sets different pay scales outside of the United States, with its pay structure being predominantly lower in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Performance Reward Program

Amazon implements a very contentious reward program that sees employees complain about others and get rewarded for it. The company has also engaged in employee coaching and training to reduce the low-retention.

Current Strategy

The current HR strategy started over 15 years ago. It is pegged mostly on the performance of the amazon stock. So far, the stock has had tremendous success. The longer-than-usual vesting for granted RSUs fits snugly into the strategy (Ferracone, 1).

Proposed Improvement

Since the position is likely to become more competitive in the future, Amazon may want to change its current strategy. Further, the stock may not sustain an upward trajectory that it has maintained over the last decade. The proposed reward program should be based on market averages borrowed from its direct competitors such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and other Fortune 500 companies. Sometimes it is not the pay that is sufficient to retain an employee. Recent studies show that millennials are likely to stick around if the environment is right. If this can be worked into the HR strategy, it may have even better acquisition and retention levels (Cain, 1).

Performance Appraisal

Currently, the company sets its performance standards directly from the job descriptions. The ability to find employees that fit Amazon's competition-driven approach is paramount. Unfortunately, the cutthroat competition tends to stifle innovation and creativity (Gross, 1). The ability to bring in new hires that match the company's ambition and internal organizational culture could work better.

Works Cited

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). "Human Resource Specialists." (2019). Online https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/human-resources-specialists.htm.

Cain, Aine. "Amazon will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour -here's what it is really like to work there, according to employees." Business insider. (2018). Online https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-work-at-amazon-2018-2?IR=T.

Ferracone, Robin. "Dare To Be Different - The Case Of Amazon.com." Forbes.com. (2019): Online https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinferracone/2019/04/23/dare-to-be-different-the-case-of-amazon-com/#2359565acb99.

Gross, Daniel P. "Creativity under fire: The effects of competition on creative production." Review of Economics and Statistics (2016): 1-49.

Payscale.com. "Average Recruiter Salary at Amazon.com Inc." (2019): Online https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Recruiter/Salary/2a6c907b/Amazon.com-Inc.