Amazon to Test 30-Hour Workweek for Select Technical Teams

Amazon.com will soon launch a program to experiment with a 30-hour workweek for select technical teams in the human resources division of the company. Those employees will receive the same benefits as traditional 40-hour workers, but only 75 percent of the pay full-time workers earn. Currently, the company employs part-time workers that share the same benefits as full-time workers. However, the pilot program would differ in that an entire team, including managers, would work reduced hours.

Total Retail's Take: This is a good move by Amazon. The announcement comes a year after a New York Times report described Amazon as a company that encouraged employees to work 80 hours a week while rarely taking vacations. What's more, if Amazon successfully rolls out the program, it can help break the taboo associated with reduced hours, and may even help to improve the company's diversity. Along with other top tech firms, Amazon hasn't balanced its female-to-male worker ratio, especially in areas of leadership, where men make up most of the management positions across the company globally. A 30-hour workweek could help encourage more female workers, who may take more childcare responsibilities than men and need the flex time.