- Amazon employees, even retired employees, can pledge stocks as collateral for mortgages.
- This arrangement is made through Better.com. Better.com charges higher interest rates on loans.
- Amazon said its inventory-focused pay model aims to encourage employees to “think like owners.”
Amazon allows employees to buy homes using its stock. Under the new program, Amazon employees will be able to use vested shares as collateral in the home-buying process, Better said in a statement Tuesday.
“We know how difficult it can be to buy a home for a young working adult with student loans and a lack of savings,” Better CEO Vishal Garg said in a statement. “This problem is exacerbated when many of the fastest growing companies start rewarding their employees with stock rather than cash.”
The company said in a statement that one of the reasons it created a program called “Equity Unlocker” was because it found that “equity compensation was a particular concern” for Amazon employees.
Equity-focused salary packages are under scrutiny as Amazon’s stock plummets and could see employee compensation fall by up to 50% this year. $93.50 on Tuesday morning — Down from above $150 a year ago.
According to Better’s statement, the mortgage benefit applies to both “current and former Amazon employees who have a vested interest in Amazon.” This year, Amazon joined the ranks of downsizing big tech companies by beginning layoffs as part of a plan to cut 18,000 roles from her.
Amazon president Brad Glasser told Insider that the program is part of the “broader financial benefits” the company offers its employees.
“We are constantly looking for opportunities to enhance our benefits and better support the mental, physical and financial health of our employees,” said Glasser.
Amazon employees have expressed concern that the company’s compensation package lags behind its big tech peers. Glasser said the company’s approach is meant to reward “long-term” thinking.
“Our compensation model aims to encourage employees to think like owners, which is why we tie total compensation to the long-term performance of the company,” he said.
New program news with Amazon’s Better The Wall Street Journal first reported.