‘Uncomfortable Conversation:’ Amazon Walks Back Pay Raise, Blaming Computer Glitch

Amazon had to walk back an announced pay raise for corporate employees after a computer glitch miscalculated their compensation, according to internal emails obtained by Business Insider. Managers were advised that they would have to prepare for an “uncomfortable conversation” with employees losing out on the raise they were promised.

The pay glitch will be embarrassing news for a company that is regularly in the headlines over poor working conditions. This glitch, however, appears to have affected the company’s corporate workforce, not its warehouse workers, the more frequent source of the online retailer’s employment controversies.

Via the New York Post:

Amazon clawed back raises for some recently promoted corporate employees after discovering an internal glitch made the pay packages more lucrative than they should have been.

Amazon brass gave managers the bad news in a Thursday email obtained by Insider. The managers were told that the impacted employees received larger bonuses than they should have because the payouts were erroneously calculated based on outdated Amazon stock prices.

It’s unclear how many Amazon employees are receiving less money than they initially expected following the promotions. But an internal IT ticket related to the software glitch suggested that about 40% of workers promoted in the current quarter have “been impacted by this issue,” according to Insider.

In an email, Amazon warned its managers that they may need to have an “uncomfortable conversation” with their employees in the likely event that “the promotional cash value your employee will now receive is lower than you originally discussed with them.”

The news comes shortly after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that the company would scale back hiring due to worsening U.S. and global economic conditions.

Like most tech stocks, the value of Amazon shares have plunged over the past year. The company’s shares are now valued at roughly $115 per share, down from highs of nearly $186 per share in mid-2021.

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.