Amazon wants to deliver its packages faster for its Prime members, so the company has an offer for its employees -- quit your job, and we will help you start a business delivering Amazon packages.
In a news release Monday, Amazon announced the expansion of its delivery service partner program it began last June. As an incentive, the Seattle-based company will fund startup costs -- up to $10,000 -- for current Amazon employees to open a small business owning and operating a package delivery company. Amazon said it will also add the equivalent of three months of the employee's gross salary toward the business as an extra incentive.
Amazon officials are hoping the new delivery companies will chop the delivery time from two days to one in most cases, and ease its reliance on UPS deliveries.
Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
"We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in a statement. "We've heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associates with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses."
The offer is open to most full-time and part-time Amazon employees, including warehouse workers, according to The Associated Press. Whole Foods employees are not eligible, however. Amazon did not say how many employees it expected to take advantage of the deal, according to the AP.
In its release, Amazon said it has helped create more than 200 small businesses since the delivery service partner program went into effect. The company plans to add hundreds more new delivery businesses in the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom.
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