What severance packages has Amazon publicly offered in prior U.S. facility shutdowns, with dollar amounts and eligibility details?
Executive summary
Amazon’s public statements and reporting on prior U.S. shutdowns and mass layoffs show a consistent framework: a paid notice/non-working period (commonly 60–90 days), followed by a tenure‑based lump‑sum severance (formulas reported vary but typically cap at roughly 20–22 weeks of base pay), plus short‑term health coverage (frequently six months) and transitional support — though precise dollar amounts and eligibility rules have differed by event and reporting source, and some company notices have omitted granular pay formulas [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. The recurring template: paid notice then tenure‑based lump sum
Across multiple shutdowns and rounds of cuts, Amazon has publicly described a two‑step approach: employees are kept on the payroll with full pay and benefits during a notice/non‑working period (commonly reported as 60 days in some rounds, 90 days in others), and after that period those who do not relocate or move into other roles are offered a separate severance payment tied to length of service [1] [4] [3] [6].
2. Reported formulas: one week per six months vs. weeks‑per‑year versions
News reporting and employee forums record two closely related formulas: some outlets describe severance as “one week of base pay for every six months” of tenure (often rounded to nearest half‑year, with a minimum of four weeks and a maximum around 20 weeks), while other corporate accounting disclosures and summaries cite lump sums of up to about 22 weeks’ base pay in particular rounds — the difference likely reflects rounding, caps, and one‑off separation payments in specific events [7] [1] [2].
3. Examples with dollar/value specifics from prior U.S. actions
In the 2023 reductions that affected roughly 18,000 employees, accounting disclosures and reporting quantified the cost and the package: affected employees who accepted offers received a lump sum characterized as up to about 22 weeks of base pay, a week‑per‑six‑months accrual (capped at roughly 20 weeks in reporting), six months of medical insurance, and pay in lieu of the notice period where applicable — the company booked roughly $640 million in severance charges tied to that round [2]. Other 2025‑era communications and draft emails described full pay and benefits for a 90‑day non‑working period followed by an unspecified severance offer [3] [4].
4. Benefits and extras: health coverage, PTO, stock and transitional support
Multiple accounts show Amazon frequently includes short‑term health insurance continuation (commonly reported as six months), payout of accrued PTO, and access to placement or transition resources; some employee‑facing notes and forum posts also mention that stock scheduled to vest during the paid notice period generally vests and is preserved for the affected employees, while relocation assistance has been offered in specific facility‑closure contexts where roles remained but required a move [2] [7] [5].
5. Variability, caps and what’s not consistently disclosed
Reporting makes clear these packages are not uniform: some internal memos and public notices provide concrete week counts and benefit lengths, others only promise “severance and transition benefits” without a formula, and independent summaries (news outlets and employee forums) sometimes differ on minima, maxima and whether a separate “separation payment” was added to the tenure calculation — Amazon’s public language has at times been deliberately broad, leaving journalists and employees to reconcile differences among company filings, internal emails and later accounting disclosures [8] [9] [10] [6].
6. Alternate readings and implicit incentives
Observers note an implicit pattern: earlier, larger rounds tended to carry more generous or specifically quantified packages (e.g., the 2023 $640M charge tied to explicit week‑counts), while some subsequent notices emphasize paid non‑working periods and generic severance offers without precise dollar figures — a practice that can reduce up‑front disclosure and leave eligibility details to HR‑issued offer letters, which benefits the company’s flexibility and may complicate external comparisons [2] [3] [4] [8].
7. What reporting does not show (limits of available public record)
Public reporting and leaked memos capture recurring elements and several concrete examples, but there is no single public table of every facility shutdown with line‑by‑line dollar amounts and eligibility rules; where company statements were vague, this analysis cannot reconstruct exact dollar totals or the full eligibility matrix for every closure without access to the specific HR offer letters or Amazon’s internal severance policy documents [8] [3].