The New York Times published a report on Tuesday that revealed Amazon’s short turnover rate is beginning to concern company executives.
Due to increased quarantine-induced spending, Amazon began to hire employees to meet demand at their fulfillment centers in March. The company’s hiring spree hit a head in May when the company began offering $1,000 signing bonuses, which was a red flag to many job candidates.
A huge hiring effort did not turn out to pay off for the online retail giant. The report indicated a 150% turnover rate for employees, showing that many are quitting very shortly after they are hired. From July to October 2020, the report cited “350,000 workers stayed with the company for just days or weeks.”
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In order to curb this high turnover, Amazon announced that it will no longer screen employees for marijuana use back at the beginning of the month. Logically, this only applies to those who aren’t doing things like operating a vehicle but it does open up room for hires who would have been disqualified by prior drug test rules.
With soon-to-be-former CEO Jeff Bezos stepping down to focus on space ventures, it seems the fate of the company may be on a rocky path if their human resources issues aren’t corrected.
An HR employee that spoke to the Times said, “Amazon can solve pretty much any problem it puts its mind behind. The human resources division, though, had nowhere near the focus, rigor, and investment of Amazon’s logistical operations. It felt like I was in a different company.”