Amazon staff might be getting paid less thanks to the company’s tumbling stock prices—but a new employee benefit program means holding shares in the tech giant might help them get onto the property ladder.
This week, digital mortgage provider Better.com unveiled its “Equity Unlocker”—a program crafted to enable Amazon employees to use their vested stock as collateral when buying a home.
It will allow them to pledge their vested RSUs as a down payment, the Wall Street Journal reported.
RSUs—or restricted stock units—are a form of stock-based employee compensation, and cannot be sold during a set vesting period.
According to Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser, the program is one of “a wide-ranging slate of financial benefits” the company offers its workforce.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to enhance our benefit offerings and better support employees’ mental, physical, and financial wellness,” he said in a statement. “Eligible employees can access [financial] benefits starting on the first day of their employment with us, regardless of role or location.”
The company’s existing financial benefits include saving resources, tools to grow financial knowledge, and other programs to help workers feel financially stable, Glasser added.
Last week, it emerged that thanks to Amazon’s slumping share price, many employees’ incomes were being constrained by stock-heavy compensation packages. Some workers were expecting to earn 50% less than their pay targets.
Amazon was no exception to the trend when tech stocks suffered a major selloff in 2022, with the company’s market cap halving over the course of the year.
The tech giant’s shares have been on a more positive trajectory since the beginning of the new year, gaining around 8% so far in 2023.
According to leaked audio heard by Insider, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently told staff he wanted them to think like “owners” of the company. His speech to employees came after Amazon announced it would lay off 18,000 workers.
In a statement on the Amazon program sent to Fortune via email on Wednesday, Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of Better, said his company was working to make homeownership more feasible for Americans—but argued that “the status quo is broken.”
“For young professionals burdened with student debt and lack of savings, we know how hard it is to buy a home,” he said.
“This problem is exacerbated when many of the best and fastest growing companies increasingly reward their employees with equity rather than cash. Even though equity is a valuable asset, it is considered ineligible by most banks and financial institutions when calculating the necessary down payment on a home.”
Garg hit international headlines in 2021 when he laid off 900 Better.com employees over a single Zoom call.
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Amazon employees can use their RSUs, not stock options, as down payments when buying a home.
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