Amazon is offering workers at its Amazon Fresh stores severance pay — or the option to apply for a transfer within its grocery business — as it shuts down the supermarkets.
Last week, the tech and e-commerce giant said it would close roughly 60 Amazon Fresh stores in the US. Amazon had spent close to six years trying to make the grocery chain work.
The decision means that thousands of Amazon Fresh employees are losing their roles, according to WARN notices filed in some states where Amazon operates Fresh stores. In California, for example, Amazon is set to close roughly 20 Fresh stores, affecting about 3,900 workers.
After announcing the store closures, Amazon provided Fresh employees on January 27 with details of what comes next, including their final pay, transfer opportunities, and a severance package, according to messages sent to Fresh workers and viewed by Business Insider.
All Fresh workers are set to receive their normal pay and benefits for 90 days after Amazon announced the closure, or until April 28, according to one message sent to Fresh workers. Workers will get either the minimum pay for their employee class or average hours worked over the previous 60 days — whichever is higher.
Fresh stores in most states closed to the public on February 1, though those in California are expected to remain open until mid-March due to a state law, Amazon previously announced.
What happens to workers from there depends on whether the former Fresh workers secure another job within Amazon.
“All affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for open roles within Amazon where available, and we’re providing career transition services to help them explore options,” an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider.
If workers don’t have a new job lined up within the company by late April, they would receive one week of pay for every six months of service at Amazon Fresh, according to another message viewed by Business Insider. Workers are expected to receive a minimum of four weeks’ pay and could get up to 20 weeks’ worth.
Fresh workers interested in transferring within Amazon were told to look for similar positions at Whole Foods stores or Amazon grocery warehouses via the company’s internal A to Z portal.
Grocery associates at Amazon Fresh, who handled duties at Fresh stores ranging from picking delivery orders to ringing up customers at checkout, typically earned between $16 and $20 an hour, according to data compiled by jobs search site Indeed from workers.
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