Alright, I did some quick research and it seems that they do sometimes pay full first year of sign-on bonus, which you need to repay (prorated). I didn’t see that that during my time at Amazon.

Ah, I just saw this, although I wrote a (much comprehensive) reply here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45097345

The full payment that requires pro-rates is even worse. They expect you to pay it fully back. (ie. with the deducted taxes included!)

I bet it is possible to profit from a such scheme if Amazon is able to declare that as a reversed-transaction (similar to VAT-refunds) at the end of the fiscal year.

IIRC they pay it out monthly if the bonus is large enough.

I worked there in 2013 and had the signing bonus paid monthly. I thought it was great since I could work there as long as I could tolerate it (10 months) and leave without regrets about having to pay back anything. Decent cash comp so I feel I got a good deal.