Even after the elimination of bonuses and stock awards, hourly operations and customer-service workers will see their total compensation increase, the company said in a statement.

“In addition, because it's no longer incentive-based, the compensation will be more immediate and predictable,” Amazon said.

Workers whose pay was already above $15 per hour will get hourly raises of $1, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the company's compensation practices. Some long-time workers expressed frustration that their raises are small compared with newly hired workers who will see hourly pay bumps of as much as 40 percent.

A higher hourly wage that new workers immediately receive is a better recruiting tool in a tight labor market than stock options that take years to materialize, especially in the warehousing industry that sees high turnover, said David DeBoskey, an accounting professor at San Diego State University. Amazon said it will hire 100,000 seasonal workers for the holiday crush this year, and temporary workers don't get stock.

“In a tight labor market, when you're the leader paying $15 an hour, that's a big advantage,” DeBoskey said. “They probably realized people weren't applying for warehouse jobs for the stock options.”

Time to rethink your employee incentives?

• The 'Total Rewards' way to attract and retain talent
• 10 perks that help attract and retain workers
• The growing complexity of compensation strategies

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