Amazon's operational recruitment volume has dropped by 50%, but monthly salaries continue to rise!

Since July, Amazon's operations recruitment has been declining, and compared with the same period last year, the overall recruitment volume has decreased by 51%. However, the recruitment volume in cities other than popular cross-border e-commerce centers such as Shenzhen is increasing, and a city in Henan has even made it into the top ten regions in Amazon's operations recruitment demand rankings. At the same time, the average salary of operations positions in many regions has increased.

The industry has deviated from the track of booming, and the employment demand of cross-border companies has shrunk significantly. Leaving the operation has become a risk. After surviving the wave of account blocking, it is difficult to find a job, and it is even more difficult to find a suitable job . They disdain Amazon operations with a base salary of 10,000 yuan, and look down on TikTok operations with a base salary of 5,000 yuan. From being full of ambition when joining the company, to being left with only disappointment in the end, the idea of ​​changing careers has spread to the hearts of every operator, and some have already changed careers and run for Didi.

In order to bring the money earned in Shenzhen back home, practitioners are also updating the other side of operations. As for on-the-job operations, what kind of side jobs outside of work can make money quickly? How are those operators who have left their jobs to work on their own doing now? Are they making huge profits or losing a lot? Are they sticking to their jobs or working with debt?

Amazon's overall operations recruitment dropped by 50%

"The company announced a salary reform, dividing operations into grades and base salaries. Some people's comprehensive salaries have dropped by 30%-40%," an internal employee of a cross-border seller revealed. The company had outstanding performance in the first two years and made a lot of money, but since this year, sales have been declining and revenue has continued to decrease.

Salary cuts became the company's first choice, and operations staff had no choice but to accept it, which has a lot to do with the current state of the industry. Unlike the upward trend in Amazon's operations recruitment in the first half of the year, the recruitment volume has begun to decline sharply in recent times.

According to Zhiyouji data, there were 113 Amazon operations job openings in July this year, a 51% decrease from the same period last year; compared with 1,141 job openings in June this year, the number of Amazon operations job openings has rapidly shrunk by 1,028 in one month .

In Shenzhen, which has always been the leader in cross-border e-commerce, the number of job openings has increased compared to the same period last year, but it is still on a downward trend. The number of job openings in June was 320, and in July it was 124.

However, overall, Amazon's operating salary has increased slightly. The average salary for Amazon operations in 2023 is 10.2K, a 7% increase from 2022. In terms of details, the average salary in Shenzhen is 12.1K, a 4% increase from 2022; the average salary in Guangzhou is 10.7K, a 6% increase from 2022; the average salary in Hangzhou is 12.8K, a 7% increase from 2022.

In terms of education, Amazon operations generally have low requirements, with college education being the majority; experience is generally 1-3 years, followed by 3-5 years, or even longer. One seller admitted: "Newbies need more time to be trained, and veterans may have too rigid thinking. We prefer to look for operators with 1-3 years of work experience." It is under such circumstances that the Amazon operations recruitment market presents an imbalance between supply and demand.

Multiple fresh graduates applied for one Amazon operation position. In June, seller Liu Yue posted an Amazon operation position in Wuhan on a recruitment website, but dozens of fresh graduates applied, creating a situation where many people were competing for one position. In the end, Liu Yue picked and chose among the fresh graduates and managed to retain one fresh graduate with a salary of 5K.

Another more common situation is that the operators who have resigned and are looking for a job have not found a suitable job for several months, and they and the company look down on each other. "I don't want to work for a company that offers low salary, and companies that offer high salary don't want me," said Xiao Liu, an operator with three years of work experience. Companies prefer high-quality and low-cost operators, while operators look forward to high-paying and easy jobs, which has led to a group of companies that are short of people and unemployed operators.

Due to the recession in the industry, many companies will not offer too many recruitment opportunities. A senior HR in the industry pointed out that many large companies prefer to retain employed and capable operations staff with high salaries, or recruit some recent college graduates with relatively good foundations to train a group of operations staff as management trainees. For those operations staff with poor working abilities, the company will force them to leave by means of disguised salary cuts.

In the past, cross-border e-commerce talents were mostly distributed in southern coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Xiamen, but in the past two years, some cross-border companies in the central region have also emerged, and the demand for operations has gradually increased. Some cross-border companies are also considering comprehensive factors such as cost and talent, and are moving to nearby or even central cities.

Information from Zhiyouji shows that the ranking of the top ten regions in the country with the most Amazon recruitment demand has changed. The original Shenzhen, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Dongguan, Shantou, Zhongshan, Shanghai, Putian, and Changsha, now the top five have only slightly changed in position, and 6-10 have become Xuchang, Putian, Ningbo, Quanzhou, and Changsha.

As the only central city that has made it into the top ten of Amazon's recruitment demand , Xuchang's salary and recruitment demand are relatively low. In 2023, the average salary of Amazon operations in Xuchang is 7.6K, a 3% increase from 7.4K in 2022. The salary in 2021 is 7.0K, and the salary in 2020 is 9.3K.

Although there are only a dozen or so job openings, they have been on an upward trend, mainly concentrated in Weidu District. Companies recruiting for operations positions are mostly engaged in hair products, accessories and handicrafts, etc. The editor learned that the salary for ordinary Amazon operations in these companies is 6K-8K, and the salary for supervisor positions is mostly in the range of 10K-15K.

Quanzhou , another city on the list, had only 22 job openings in July , a significant increase from the 2 job openings in the same period last year. At the same time, the salary level in the region is also increasing significantly. The average salary for Amazon operations in 2023 is 8.9K, a 13% increase from 7.9K in 2022.

Ningbo is also a city with a relatively large number of Amazon operations job openings, with 47 job openings in July. The average salary for Amazon operations in 2023 is 9.8K, down 3% from last year. Among them, the salary in Yinzhou District is relatively high, at 10.8K.

Overall, the demand for operations recruitment in popular cities for cross-border e-commerce is not as high as in previous years. Instead, the demand for recruitment in less popular cities such as Xuchang and Quanzhou is increasing. However, overall, the salary levels in these regions have basically increased, showing a trend of increasing year by year.

Amazon operation was not profitable, so he switched to driving Didi

As industry demand shrinks, leaving one's job becomes a risky business. Most operations staff choose to continue to stick to their posts despite being scolded, but some of them move around in the same industry after leaving their jobs.

Amazon operation, independent website operation, and TikTok operation are the three most popular operation options. "Strong Amazon players have already laid out independent websites. If you focus on the operation sector, independent website operation is also a good development direction in the long run," a seller operation pointed out. TikTok is currently in a period of great popularity, so you can always get a share of the pie.

However, many operators look down on operations outside of Amazon. "I enjoyed the era of making money on Amazon. The black technology of wireless flash sales allowed the products I was responsible for to receive thousands of orders per day, and my income also reached its peak at that time," said Li Sheng, who has four years of experience in Amazon operations. He survived the wave of account bans, but he didn't know where his future was.

Li Sheng said frankly that he had recently interviewed two companies, one of which was an Amazon operation with a base salary of 10,000 yuan, but the company's environment and product line were criticized , and the conventional crude distribution method was not very useful for his experience in creating popular products and selecting products. Although the base salary was 10,000 yuan, he didn't care at all.

Recently I saw the extremely popular TikTok platform and interviewed with a company, but the key point is that the basic salary is only 5K. Even if I am optimistic about the prospects of TikTok, this is equivalent to the basic salary of fresh graduates, so I really despised it and did not go. I am still unemployed at home.

Disdaining the 10,000 yuan base salary for Amazon operations and looking down on the 5,000 yuan base salary for TikTok operations , practitioners are always looking forward to better salaries and benefits. But often ideals are full and reality is very skinny.

From being full of ambition when they first joined the company to being disappointed now, the workers have lost their initial passion. "In the first year, I was full of passion every day, doing all kinds of research and imagining my future," "In the second year, I achieved some results and began to look forward to the year-end bonus and annual leave, but the boss complained that I got too much," "In the third year, the performance reached the profit point required by the boss, but the boss did not mention some of the things he promised."

The idea of ​​changing careers has popped up in the mind of every operator, especially when performance has not been achieved, the boss has been PUA, the salary and benefits are unfair, and the promises have been broken. Everyone has more or less calculated in their mind how long they can persist in this industry and which industry they can turn to in the future.

Last year, a photo of "An Amazon operator changed his career to sell braised dishes" went viral in the cross-border circle. Many people paid attention not to the braised dishes he was cutting, but the sign of his stall, "An Amazon operator changed his career to sell braised dishes".

Recently, an Amazon operator who had been looking for a job many times but failed after leaving his job also changed his career to drive for Didi . When asked about the reason, he was more disappointed with the Amazon operation position . "I interviewed many companies, and they were basically about distributing goods and following sales. I never received an interview call from a boutique company." After waiting for three months, he had no money in his hand. In the face of survival, ideals became worthless. Driving for Didi at least can make money and temporarily guarantee his life.

"After two years of running Amazon, what should I do next?" An Amazon operator said with emotion that he had not saved any money in two years and really did not know which industry he could switch to. Although the workers were helpless, they agreed: "I live in Minzhi, Shenzhen, the rent is 1,500 yuan, and the average daily cost of food is 50 yuan. I can't save any money at all." It really fits the saying that you earn money in Shenzhen and spend it in Shenzhen.

After working in the industry for several years, they still haven’t reached the standard of high-income people born in the 1990s. This is the true portrayal of most Amazon operators. A blogger polled the monthly income of Amazon operators, and the results showed that the majority of operators had monthly incomes of less than 10K, accounting for more than 54%; the proportion of operators with monthly incomes greater than or equal to 20K was 23%; the proportion of operators with monthly incomes between 10K-13K was 15%; the proportion of operators with monthly incomes between 14K-18K was the least, accounting for only 8%.

Xiao Liu, an operations worker, said: "I barely belong to the third tier. I can only get a little over 10,000 yuan in monthly salary plus commission, and my social security and provident fund are at the lowest level . " There is a reason why Amazon operations workers can't save money. The salary and benefits are clearly polarized, and only a small number of people can get high incomes.

At present, a large number of companies are still rectifying their salary structure. Before the rectification: interview base salary ( 5K) + gross profit commission (3%-5% ladder) = actual salary; after the rectification: minimum salary 2360 (guaranteed minimum) + remaining monthly salary (participating in performance appraisal, performance target is 100%, calculated according to the completion rate percentage) + gross profit commission 3%-5% ladder after completing the performance target = actual salary.

Some companies also split the basic salary into ( 65% of the original no-responsibility basic salary + 35% of the basic salary as performance), which means that the basic salary is only 65% ​​of the original, and the rest is subject to performance appraisal (6 new products must be put on the shelves every month with a profit of 50%, accounting for 50 points; the other part is profit appraisal, with a step-by-step scoring), and finally, performance appraisal (scores from supervisors for work attitude, etc.) are added, which is equivalent to a monthly comprehensive salary reduction of about 25%.

So much so that some colleagues complained: This complicated salary calculation procedure seems to have entered the world of calculus, and it is recommended to pack up and run away. An HR with 6 years of experience in the industry said: Salary adjustment is still good. For women who are 30+ and have reached childbearing age, many companies will not choose them. This is the bloody reality.

After quitting my 20,000 yuan monthly salary job and going it alone: ​​I didn’t make any money and I lost a lot

In order to bring the money earned in Shenzhen back home, practitioners are also exploring new channels to make money.

For those who still stick to the operation industry, if they only develop along the operation position, their development prospects and paths are very clear: general operation - team leader - supervisor - director. If they want to be promoted further, what needs to be considered is not the operation ability, but the management and leadership ability.

Therefore, many operators started side businesses outside of work ↓

Evaluation. A blogger shared that he started out as an Amazon operations assistant and had a large number of sellers. He usually gave away products and a few dozen yuan in red envelopes. At that time, the blogger's monthly salary was 4,500 yuan, and he could earn 2,000+ yuan from private work every month.

Middlemen. Occasionally, I would read gossip in the Amazon discussion group, and send the information I had learned about operation, account solutions, and store purchases and sales to the service providers I had cooperated with. After a while, we started chatting, and I asked the middlemen if they had low prices. In this way, I became the middleman for the service providers and made a small profit.

Xiaohongshu. I run several Xiaohongshu accounts by myself, shoot videos and edit materials, and when the number of fans reaches a certain level, I start to take on brand cooperation. It's about 100-300 yuan each time. Although it's not much, it's okay when accumulated.

In addition to side jobs in online channels, many operators have tried to do some side jobs after work, such as delivering food, working as a designated driver, taking video shoots, doing manicures, photographing traffic violations, and setting up street stalls . One operator said frankly, "It's a small profit and very tiring, but it's really stress-relieving. I recommend operators to try it." There are even many operators who have turned their side jobs into their main jobs. They simply quit their jobs at Amazon operations, became full-time deliverymen, and opened nail salons.

Of course, a large number of operators have chosen to work alone. March is known as the golden period for job seekers, and it is also the peak period for resignations of cross-border operators. Behind this wave of resignations, many operators have gone to work alone. Some operators frankly admitted that those who are capable have gone out to work alone, and those who stay are those who are learning experience or lack the ability. So how are those operators who work alone doing now?

After half a year of operation, I quit my job and started my own business. My goal is to complete 100 orders per day↓

Xiao Liu joined a cross-border company in an Amazon operation position half a year ago. He made two or three hit products on the North American and European sites that made it onto the BSR list. But the good times didn’t last long. In May, many of the company’s main accounts were blocked and layoffs began. After considering his personal situation, Xiao Liu started to work on his own. He registered a company at the end of May and put the goods on the shelves in July. Currently, the store has about 10 orders per day, and the next goal is to have 100 orders per day.

"I have been busy but fulfilled since I quit my job. I feel that life is real now," said Xiao Liu. Many people think that Xiao Liu dared to start his own business after only six months just to gain experience, but Xiao Liu does not think so. He has a special category and has been focusing on research, so he has been able to get a steady flow of orders.

After leaving the job for three months, I went back to work after working on my own ↓

Originally he was full of ambition and wanted to make a big move, but now he has to bow to reality. In the three months since leaving his job, Li Wei's daily routine was to get up at 9 a.m., select products for two hours, and select products from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., day after day, but the result was: most of them were rejected and no items were confirmed.

With a half-hearted mentality, poor self-control and occasional emo, Li Wei couldn't hold on any longer (gave up his fantasy) and had to go back to work (improve his skills).

I quit my job as an operator with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, but after working alone, I didn’t make any money and even lost a lot↓

In August last year , Wang Ye quit his operations job with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan and returned to his hometown to start a business. He thought he could make a big splash on Amazon, but after more than a year, he found that he did not make any money and even lost a lot. Looking at the sporadic orders every day, he didn't know what to do.

“I advertised my first product, did a flash sale for the first time, got the first bad review from the link, and got paid for the first time in four months,” Wang Ye said. He has matured a lot in this year. After starting his own business, he found out how difficult it is to promote products. He hangs out in various seller groups every day, learning how to select and promote products. He experienced confusion and self-doubt, but now he has calmed down. He checks the links and accounts every day, records the data, and digs out keywords. As for the number of orders, it’s up to fate.

Of course, the above cases are only the current situation of some independent operators. Some of them have resources and funds, and they are aiming to get rich quickly; some are less resource-scarce and less financially-scarce, and they are just aiming for a considerable income, which exceeds the income of workers. Some are lucky, and they have built a house in 2 years, and they think that independent operation is very attractive, with considerable sales, and they are full of confidence in the future; some people have been working in the industry for 2 years, but they have suffered heavy losses and left the market, carrying heavy debts, and returning to being workers.

Underneath the multiple voices are the personal insights of those who have experienced it. When you are at a crossroads and hesitate whether to go it alone, you should consider your own personal situation. To sum it up in one sentence: There are risks in entering the "pit", and you need to be cautious when going it alone.

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