Amazon offers staff $5 000 to quit

Los Angeles - Online retailer Amazon is offering employees who aren't happy working for the growing company $5 000 to quit.

"The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want. In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don't want to be isn't healthy for the employee or the company," Amazon chief executive Jeffrey Bezos wrote in a letter to share holders.

There is no indication that the offer is a back-handed attempt to trim the workforce of Amazon, which is estimated at 109 000, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A company statement says the programme is outlined under the headline that reads, "Please don't take this offer."

The programme is called "pay to quit" and offers $2 000 for the first year to employees who want to leave, then steps up the amount in $1 000 increments in each subsequent year until reaching $5 000, explained the statement. The offer will be made to associates once a year.

The tactic is used by other companies with the goal of getting poorly performing employees to leave with money in their pocket and filling those jobs with more talented employees.

In the statement Bezos credits online retailer Zappos with the invention of the idea for the programme.