Amazon's Tuition Reimbursement program

For the last year or so, there has been an outpouring of dislike for Amazon, and not just from supporters of the publishers who were under investigation by the DOJ. I've seen articles about how Amazon is trying to destroy the independent booksellers--although Borders and Barnes&Noble seem to get a free pass on this although they were responsible for many independents going out of business in the 90s. Remember the movie, "You've Got Mail?" Yeah. Like that. Of course Borders got a taste of its own medicine last year, but I'm straying from the main topic.

I've also read articles from people who have worked in the warehouses and how difficult of a job it is. It's exhausting and they run non-stop from one end of a warehouse to another finding items that have been ordered. I have no doubt that it is incredibly tiring, but in an economy like this, Amazon provides much needed jobs especially for those who have very little education or their education is in a field that is in low demand so those who work there feel stuck. It must be hard to face endless days of working in a warehouse with the only other option being unemployed. Amazon must have heard the complaints because today on their front page, there is this:

" Many of our fulfillment center employees will choose to build their careers at Amazon. For others, a job at Amazon might be a step towards a career in another field. We want to make it easier for employees to make that choice and pursue their aspirations. It can be difficult in this economy to have the flexibility and financial resources to teach yourself new skills. So, for people who've been with us as little as three years, we're offering to pre-pay 95% of the cost of courses such as aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies, medical lab technologies, nursing, and many other fields. "

 Read the rest at: Amazon (story posted on 7/23/2012)

I don't know about the rest of you, but my job has tuition reimbursement, however they only pay for courses that are directly related to your job, or in my employer's case, I believe they also will help pay if it's a high demand field where I work, but I don't know for sure.  This isn't a knock at my employer--it's a pretty standard tuition reimbursement perk and that is exactly what it is. A perk. No company has to offer it, but the ones who do are already seen as better companies to work for even if you don't take advantage of the perk. It shows they care about their employees. The difficult part for employess is that for the most part employers only pay after you have ponied up the first semester's tuition and there tends to be a cap on how much they will pay per year.

Amazon is offering 95% pre-paid in fields that are well-paying and, unbelievably, in career fields which will most likely take the employee they have paid to educate out of the Amazon workforce. What company does that? None that I've heard of. There are some stipulations like you have to be a full-time employee for three years, but I'm sure there are many who already qualify, and guess what? As they receive their education and move onto their chosen career field, courtesy of Amazon, that will open new positions at Amazon.

It's a win/win for people seeking jobs. I'm guessing that Amazon realizes that in the long run, they will be creating customers since the people that are educated will have the means to buy goods and hopefully, they will buy from Amazon.

It's pretty hard to hate a company that provides options to their employees even if it means losing those employees after investing thousands of dollars in them. I have no doubt someone will come up with a negative about the program, and I can't wait to see what it is. ;-)