Amazon Employee Referral Bonus Details

Jill Caren
By Jill Caren
Updated December 17th, 2023

Amazon has become a household name since its inception in 1994. The company is now worth $1 trillion dollars, and is the largest retailer in the world. In addition to being a massive corporation, Amazon also offers employees a variety of perks and benefits, the Amazon employee referral bonus is one of them.

If you are working at Amazon and enjoy your job and think of how cool it would be to have a friend join you. Well, the Amazon employee referral bonus program may make that thought even more interesting.

If you have a friend or family member who is looking for a good job, Amazon offers so many opportunities.

For each employee you refer to the company you can receive a bonus.

What Is The Amazon Employee Referral Program?

Every time you refer a friend or family member to apply for a job at Amazon you can receive a bonus if they should get hired.

Amazon has several tiers of employees and each tier level may differ in the amount of bonus money you receive.

Who Should You Refer To Amazon?

Remember, who you refer to Amazon is a reflection on you.

If the referral bonus is appealing and you think it will be easy to just refer anyone to land a job – and then they can quit after you get your bonus, think again.

Amazon is pretty diligent in their hiring process and really wants quality employees.

So, it is in your best interest to only refer people you really believe will be amazing workers. Whether they become an Amazon stow associate or an Amazon picker packer, they will need to prove their value and remain on the job before you get your referral bonus.

Besides, do you really want to risk your own reputation by referring someone who is not a good worker just for a few bucks?

How Much Is The Amazon Employee Referral Bonus?

Generally speaking if an employee is hired for a Tier 1 position, which is typically an entry level job you may receive $125 as a bonus. Some areas are seeing higher bonuses which is typical if it is a hard to hire area.

We have seen employees note that they have received bonuses ranging from $125 to $1,000 for referring employees.

In reading what Amazon employees are saying, the bonuses could vary a bit based on the fulfillment center (FC) you work at and the tier of the position the referred person is hired for.

In a few cases there were reports of no referral bonuses received. But this might be because the referred person did not enter the person’s name or the paperwork was not completed.

What Do I Need To Do To Secure My Referral Bonus?

We found several threads where employees missed out on the referral bonus because they did not do the proper process!

If you do refer someone to apply for a job, it is important that they enter your employee ID or email. There is also an interface on an internal tool where you can invite friends to apply and then it will be noted that you were the referrer.

How Do I Know If My Fulfillment Center Is Offering Referral Bonuses?

Usually you will see it being promoted around the workplace. It may be a standard referral bonus or they may increase the amount if there is more need, like seasonal help is needed.

It is best to ask your human resource department on what the current status of employee referral bonuses are.

amazon employee referral bonus - amazon box

How Long Does It Take To Get The Bonus?

So, you brought in some amazing employees and they have already started working.

But wait, where the heck is my referral bonus?

Well, you may have to wait a bit! Referral bonuses in most cases will be given after a referred employee has completed 60 days of continued employment successfully. In some warehouses we have seen employees say it was 90 days.

So it could take up to 4 months to receive your bonus.

Related: Does Amazon Do Background Checks?

Does Amazon Offer Any Other Bonuses?

Amazon does offer additional bonuses throughout the year. Some employees will qualify for a performance bonus if they are exceeding expectations for their job duties.

Others may receive a seasonal bonus due to the extra volume of work being done at certain times of the year.

What Other Amazon Benefits Are There?

Whether you are looking for a job or already an Amazon employee, there are a few other benefits you should know about.

One is that they do often run promotions where they will offer a sign-on bonus for new employees. Most commonly, this is done around the holidays – but they offer it when they are in need of workers. If you are in the market for a job, keep your eyes out for these bonuses as they can sometimes be thousands of dollars.

For employees, there are a variety of benefits to help you financially. This can include their 401(k) plan which offers a matching amount of $.50 for every $1.00 you put in. So that $1.00 you put in your plan is now $1.50.

Their health benefits are also very good with offerings for employees and their dependents being made available. This can include medical, dental and vision coverage. There is also paid time off, discount programs just for employees and 10% off Amazon products.


Jill Caren is an international SEO consultant and founder of 2Dogs Media. She is also a trainer, journalist, and speaker who helps brands increase their organic search visibility, traffic, and conversions. She is also the co-founder of Blue Collar Brain, a resource for those looking to enter a trade career.

She has been featured on MSN, Wealth of Geeks, Hubspot, SEO Powersuite, and other publications for her work as an SEO and advocate for skilled trades.