Online retailer Amazon plans to fill 150,000 jobs in the United States to meet increased demand for holiday shopping, the company reported Monday.
Amazon made the announcement in a Monday press release, noting the increased hiring is in addition to its recent plans to add 40,000 workers nationwide.
“We are proud to be offering a huge range of full-time, part-time, and now seasonal jobs with great pay and benefits,” stated Alicia Boler Davis, senior vice president, global customer fulfillment.
“Our seasonal hiring helps us deliver on our promises to customers while also providing flexibility to our full-time employees during busy periods. Joining Amazon in one of our seasonal roles offers high-paying, part-time work, or a path to a full-time position, with benefits like our Career Choice program to help people advance their education and careers within Amazon or beyond,” she added.
Amazon shared that the states with the greatest number of seasonal roles include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
According to the statement for hiring in Illinois, all Amazon jobs in the United States, including seasonal roles, have an average starting pay of $18 per hour. In addition, the company has advertised for the potential of up to $3,000 in sign-on bonuses and additional hourly pay in many locations.
The new seasonal worker total is approximately 50 percent higher than in 2020. However, the massive hiring announcement remains below Amazon’s 2019 efforts to hire 200,000 seasonal workers.
Amazon has been among the beneficiaries of growth during the coronavirus pandemic. While many businesses were forced to shut down or faced restrictions that limited operations, Amazon’s online infrastructure allowed it to grow even more.
Still, some concerns remain as the nation faces a supply chain crisis. The concerns led President Joe Biden to make new announcements last week to address congestion at some of America’s ports.
“After weeks of negotiation and working with my team and with the major union and retailers and freight movers, the Ports of Los Angeles—the Port of Los Angeles announced today that it’s going to be—begin operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Biden announced.
“This follows the Port of Long Beach’s commitment to 24/7 that it announced just weeks ago,” he added.
Biden called the effort a “first key step” to improving the nation’s supply chain.
The president’s speech also announced the expansion of shipping companies to meet the growing demands.
“Additionally, FedEx and UPS, two of our nation’s biggest freight movers, are committing today to significantly increase the amount of goods they are moving at night. FedEx and UPS are the shippers for some of our nation’s largest stores, but they also ship for tens of thousands of small businesses all across America,” he added.
