Amazon freezes base pay for many senior staff due to big stock gains

Amazon is not giving base pay raises to many senior employees this year due to the significant increase (over 75%) in Amazon's stock price over the past year.

The pay freeze applies to employees at Level 6 and above, who have a larger portion of their compensation in equity rather than base pay.

Lower level employees will likely receive better base pay raises this year.

Amazon has provided internal guidance to managers on explaining why base pay is not increasing, citing stock growth leading to higher overall compensation.

This reflects Amazon's pay model which emphasizes ownership through equity, with more senior roles having higher equity and less cash compensation.