Would you pay a new tech $2,000 to quit? · Technician Find Community

Would you pay a new tech $2,000 to quit?

Zappos does something most shop owners would call insane.

During onboarding, they offer new employees up to $4,000 to walk away. No hard feelings. Just take the cash and leave.

Their thinking? If someone takes the money, they were never committed anyway. Better to find out in week two than month six when they've poisoned your shop culture and you've wasted thousands on training.

Here's what got me thinking...

Most of you already have 90-day probationary periods. You're already doing the "trial" part. But what if you added a financial incentive for the uncommitted to self-select out?

And there's another angle here that's unique to our industry:

The toolbox.

Some shops pay to move a tech's box in. What if you also committed to paying to move it out—no questions asked—if either party decides it's not a fit during that first 90 days?

Think about it: A tech's toolbox can cost $500-$1,500 to move. That's real money. But what's the cost of a bad hire who sticks around because leaving feels too expensive?

I genuinely don't know if this would work in our world. That's why I'm asking.

Three questions for the group:

Would offering a "quit bonus" during probation attract better candidates (who see it as confidence) or worse ones (who see it as an easy payday)?

If you guaranteed to pay a tech's toolbox in AND out during the first 90 days, would that make you more attractive to committed A-players... or just make it easier for flakes to bounce?