Every day is Bring Your Dog to Work Day at Amazon! It’s rare, but have you ever received a “404 error” on Amazon.com and seen a cute dog telling you that page cannot be fetched? Well, we didn’t hire dog models, the pooches you see are real Amazonian dogs!
Right now, you might be watching some of our furry co-workers play in this centrally-located dog park. This spot gives our pet friends a place to take a break during their day in the office. Amazon’s dog culture goes all the way back to the early days of Amazon and a welsh corgi named “Rufus” who belonged to one of Amazon’s first principal engineers. Rufus became a mascot in those early days and his paw clicked the button to launch a lot of Amazon.com’s web pages.
Today, we honor the legacy of Rufus by allowing our employees to bring humankind’s best friend into our Puget Sound offices, which has been shown to lower stress. With more than 10,000 dogs registered to come to work at Amazon, we keep plenty of treats! Reception desks in every building stock dog biscuits to hand out to any pooch who asks nicely for one. The 17th floor of the Doppler building (the large building next to this one) has a large “doggie deck” complete with a fake fire hydrant and running room. Around the neighborhood, Amazon stocks waste bag stations and maintains designated doggie relief areas, and dog-friendly water fountains.
Dogs aren’t the only thing contributing to the health and wellness of our employees. At Amazon, we offer medical, dental, and vision coverage to all our regular full-time employees, regardless of their level, tenure, or position. This coverage starts on Day 1 of employment! And if Fido needs a day off at the beach, ample paid time and paid holidays make it easy to take time away from work.
