Amazon wants to turn employees into independent couriers

Amazon is offering employees a start-up grant of 10,000 dollars plus three months’ paid salary to make the leap towards becoming self-employed couriers – delivering Amazon parcels, of course.

Starting up is too expensive

In the middle of last year, Amazon launched its own delivery service in order to become less dependent on major logistical players such as UPS and FedEx. By taking care of the deliveries themselves or outsourcing them to small-time entrepreneurs, the e-commerce giant hopes to save on transport costs.

Amazon has been searching all over for people willing to take a leap and start up their own courier company, including within their own ranks. Although interest among employees was high, for many the switch was financially unfeasible. “We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner programme, including many employees”, said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations. Amazon is now offering a 10,000 dollar grant plus three months’ salary to help interested employees get started.

Since the delivery service was launched, more than 200 independent contractors have applied to process the deliveries. Together, they have hired thousands of drivers, Amazon claims. This year, the company is planning to add hundreds of contractors more, including those employees willing to take up Amazon’s new offer.