In an open letter today, Amazon announced the "Amazon Career Choice Program", where they will offer to pay 95% of the educational costs for their employees to learn other skills. They claim that although many of their employees will choose to grow their careers at Amazon while others will pursue other fields, by offering to help finance their education, Amazon wants to make it "easier for employees to make that choice and pursue their aspirations".
In an economy where benefits are leaning towards employers simply because of the high volume of applicants, it's refreshing to see Amazon is investing in its employees. Although these types of innovative management moves are typically associated with the Googles and the Apples of the world, I see this move by Amazon as part of its larger debutante presentation. They've shown they can play in the hardware space (Kindle) and the software space (Amazon Silk browsing software)-- that they can rival even the most extensive distribution (very-close-to-same-day-delivery? Eat your heart out UPS!) and still maintain excellent customer service (and may even open its own brick-and-mortar store!). Moreover, they've even coined their own term, "showrooming", where consumers will go into a store to look at products but go home to purchase it online (usually from Amazon). With next day delivery and competitive prices, Amazon is the clear winner here. A recent report even indicates that the percentage of consumers doing this overall is in the 60th percentile, but that among smartphone owners, the number skyrockets to 78%.
By investing in its people in such a public way, Amazon is sending a clear message to all the other tech-darlings out there-- We're gunning for ya. Or, in a more colloquial terms "so you get better hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husbands, cuz they're rapin' errbody out der". And who can say that we didn't see this coming? With fast-growing demand for competent, young, intelligent techies out there, Amazon would be silly not to be open in saying that they're willing to invest in your future. Studies have shown that the newer generations are job hoppers, less likely to stick around one place for their entire lives, they value exploration and the "soft stuff" (work/life balance, family, quality down time, etc.) than their predecessors. So if Amazon can change the mind of just a few of these youngsters and get them to invest themselves into Amazon, they guarantee themselves continuity as time passes and can start spreading the word that they're just as desirable as any Apple or Google out there. So...hide your kids, hide your wife....Amazon is comin' to getcha.
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