{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","contentId":"0000019e-4155-dea0-a3be-d1d5294d0000","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-employee-support-benefits-medical-family-career","headline":"How Amazon helps employees find support when it matters most","description":"Paid leave, healthcare from day one, and career programs helped these Amazon employees navigate life's toughest chapters.","datePublished":"2026-05-21T13:00:38.817Z","dateModified":"2026-05-21T13:00:38.817Z","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"J. Ofori Agboka, Vice President, People Experience and Technology ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/a6862b7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/900x900+0+225/resize/84x84!/grayscale/true/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F78%2F6c%2F8459a2764e8497469f7fdef5a677%2F2020-09-16-amazon-social-distancing-brian-sevald-photo-53.jpg","width":"84","height":"84"}}],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/46d784d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+313+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F91%2Fb2%2F701f9b02410f8add723b6be46b8b%2Famazon-employee-brittany-nb-amazon-news-052126.jpg","width":"300","height":"200"},"articleBody":"![Amazon employee wearing glasses working at dual monitor setup viewing data visualizations](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/46d784d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+313+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F91%2Fb2%2F701f9b02410f8add723b6be46b8b%2Famazon-employee-brittany-nb-amazon-news-052126.jpg)\n\n# How Amazon helps employees find support when it matters most\n\n*These three employees navigated grief, a cancer diagnosis, and career reinvention. Amazon was there each time.*\n\n---\n\n## Key takeaways\n\n- Amazon operations employees proactively share stories about their lives and careers, including the three here.\n- They share to inspire others to use benefits like paid leave, [day-one healthcare](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-health-benefits), and career programs.\n- Their stories span parenthood, grief, medical crises, career reinvention, and more.\n\n---\n\n[Amazon employs](https://www.aboutamazon.com/amazons-workplace-culture) more than a million people across the globe, and each person has a life that extends far beyond what they do for work—raising families, pursuing goals, navigating change, and building new chapters. So, when we support someone through a hard time, the impact doesn't stop with that one person. It ripples outward to their family, their team, and their community.\n\n![Smiling woman wearing glasses and red headband working in Amazon fulfillment facility](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/6ea961b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+21+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fe5%2F89%2F9a9237e4474fbbf1bc660fe97a27%2Fdgt2-32-2000.jpg)\n\n- [Amazon is investing over $1 billion to raise pay and lower health care costs for US fulfillment and transportation employees](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-wage-increase-2025-fulfillment-transportation-employees)\n\nThe three employees featured here chose to share what that support has meant in their own lives—and their stories offer a glimpse into how our workplace can support the whole person.\n\n## How does Amazon support employees through parenthood and loss?\n\n![Professional woman looking up with city view below](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/2fd1d06/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x900+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F3c%2F45%2Fb924e9934ac996b3779341cb2f47%2Fbrittany-amazon-employee-nb-amazon-news-052126.jpg)\n\nBrittany Ghess was working two fast-food jobs when she joined Amazon in 2015 through a staffing agency in Las Vegas.\n\nShe was nine months pregnant when Amazon offered her a full-time position after her temporary assignment ended. The fact that her pregnancy was never treated as a barrier changed everything for her.\n\n“I was so grateful,” Ghess said. “I was offered the opportunity to continue, with the benefits to have paid maternity and bonding leave with my newborn, in perfect timing.”\n\nThose benefits proved to be the difference between stress and stability during one of life's biggest transitions.\n\n![Expectant couple smiling on couch, woman in red top touching belly](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/38545df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+129+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Ffd%2Fb6%2F4aba22ed4e72b76b22a4e14e006c%2Fabout-amazon-hero-hero001-adobestock-385206317.jpg)\n\n- [7 family-building and fertility benefits that support Amazon employees and their families](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/amazon-fertility-benefits-for-employees)\n\nAmazon was there for Ghess again in 2021 when she lost her father and her younger sister within seven months. Both times, we granted her leave quickly and without difficulty. We sent a care package and planted a tree in her sister's honor.\n\n“Any questions, concerns, or requests I've had regarding time off or benefits have always been answered in a timely manner and with compassion,” Ghess said. “Amazon has a benefit or resource for just about every life experience.”\n\nMore than a decade later, Ghess is a Learning Ambassador at an Amazon facility in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s also continuing her education through [Amazon’s Career Choice program](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/career-choice-free-education-for-amazon-employees), which offers prepaid college tuition, industry certifications, and skills training to eligible employees.\n\n## What's it like to start a new career at Amazon later in life?\n\n![Woman with glasses and plaid shirt in a meeting at a conference table](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/bccbc67/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x899+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Ff3%2F22%2F0117e2164599b8318d98caca0fae%2Famazon-employee-tina-amazon-news-nb-052126.JPG)\n\nTina Booth, a grandmother of 10, originally took a nighttime job with us in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic so she could watch her grandchild during the day while her daughter returned to work.\n\nBefore Amazon, she worked in medical claims processing—a career cut short when the pandemic arrived and family priorities shifted. She wasn't looking for a career when she joined Amazon, just a way to support her family.\n\n“I wasn't planning on staying,” Booth said. “But that's exactly what happened.”\n\nWhat kept her was the culture. At previous jobs, taking a day off meant negotiating and apologizing. At Amazon, time away from work was simply supported. She learned quickly, absorbed as many role types and processes as she could, and was eventually promoted to Process Assistant.\n\nBooth said she found her calling when she became a Learning Trainer, supporting new hire onboarding, teaching the best safety practices, and introducing employees to experiences that can help grow their careers.\n\n![A photo of an Amazon employee taking an online course on desktop and laptop devices.](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/76bc8f7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+156+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F27%2F7a%2F3953910b4dffa21d643d59a540f2%2Fupskilling1.jpg)\n\n- [8 free skills training programs that help Amazon employees land higher-paying roles](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/our-upskilling-2025-programs)\n\nNow, she opens every learning session with the story of how she came to Amazon planning to leave but found a career she never expected—and a gift for helping others do the same. More than that, her role gave her back something she hadn’t realized she’d been missing: purpose.\n\n“As we get older and our kids grow and don’t need us as much, we miss the feeling of being needed every day,” Booth said. “Helping people at Amazon is helping me.”\n\n## How does Amazon help employees through a medical crisis?\n\n![Amazon employee in navy hoodie and cap sitting at conference table](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/91a44a6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x900+0+0/resize/767x431!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fad%2F14%2F2d39ab964a58b53f5498e984f32b%2Famazon-employee-shawn-amazon-news-nb-052126.JPG)\n\nShawn Garcia took what he thought would be a temporary job at an Amazon delivery station in Colorado after he was laid off during the pandemic.\n\nFour years and three roles later, he works in field quality assurance at an Amazon facility in Aurora, Colorado, and his reasons for staying go far deeper than a career.\n\nIn August 2022, Garcia’s partner was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer. Garcia braced for insurance battles and financial stress, but they never came. From the first appointment through the end of his partner’s life in September 2024, Amazon's healthcare coverage held firm. No denials, no delays.\n\n“Despite being one of over a million employees, the support I received never felt impersonal,” Garcia said. “Amazon stood beside us every step of the way.”\n\n![A man sits on a couch across from a woman therapist who is sitting in a blue chair and writing on a notepad. ](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/370545f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1689x1126+0+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fd1%2Fcd%2F245180684a7b9c35caa68db2dc2e%2Fmentalhealthbenefits-hero-2000x1126.jpg)\n\n- [Amazon expands mental health support for employees and families worldwide](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/6-new-mental-health-benefits-and-resources-for-amazon-employees)\n\nAfter his partner's passing, Amazon was there for Garcia again. With the help of Amazon’s legal and adoption assistance benefits, he adopted two boys, Adrean and Nicholas, in June 2025.\n\n“Through my darkest moments and my greatest joys, Amazon consistently showed up for me,” he said.\n\nToday, Garcia is raising two boys, building a career he’s proud of, and looking ahead with optimism.\n\n## Support that extends beyond the workplace\n\nGhess, Booth, and Garcia each came to Amazon at different points in their lives—navigating pregnancy, grief, a pandemic career shift, and a partner’s cancer diagnosis.\n\nAmazon supported them at every turn with benefits that went beyond helping them through a difficult moment. From healthcare coverage starting on day one and paid leave to career development and adoption assistance, that support gave each of them the foundation to build what came next.\n\nToday, Ghess is training new associates and earning her degree. Booth is welcoming new hires through the door every week. And Garcia is raising two boys.\n\nThese are just three of the tens of thousands of stories shared through Amazon’s “I Found the Right Place” program—a way for employees to tell their own stories in their own words. And while every story is different, each reflects the stability and support that a workplace can help provide.\n\nNext, [CEO Andy Jassy shares nine things](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/andy-jassy-lessons-learned-amazon) he’s learned over 28 years at Amazon.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"About Amazon","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.com","sameAs":["https://x.com/amazonnews","https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon","https://www.instagram.com/amazonnews"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/bd/8f/88e7b0314cc2bd05b9de3155a0fe/amazon-news.svg"},"parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon","url":"https://www.amazon.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3884","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)","https://x.com/Amazon"]}}}