Amazon is getting ready for the holiday shopping rush with plans to hire 150,000 workers across its operations network, the company announced Thursday.
Full-time, part-time and seasonal roles across the U.S. will include jobs in packing, picking, sorting and shipping, Amazon said. The annual hiring spree matches what the company planned for in 2021.
The move comes shortly after Amazon announced that it will spend an additional $1 billion over the next year to increase average starting pay for front-line workers to $19 per hour. Amazon also offers sign-on bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 in select locations.
Amazon is betting big on holiday spending even as inflation fears and an economic downturn cast doubt on whether Americans will be in a shopping mood. The company is holding a first-ever “Prime Early Access Sale” Oct. 11-12 as an exclusive event for Prime members. The sale is aimed at replicating the effect of Amazon’s annual summertime Prime Day event to boost sales during a lull in the retail calendar.
In another new twist, Amazon says it will release a Top 100 list of products in conjunction with the Prime Early Access Sale, which it describes as “some of the season’s most popular and giftable items.”
Amazon employs about 1.5 million people and is the second-largest private employer in the U.S. behind Walmart. The company listed several states where the greatest number of new jobs will be available: California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington.
Bloomberg reported that despite Amazon’s efforts, its third-party merchants, who account for more than half of the company’s online sales, are bracing for a dreary holiday season.
