Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
What Slowdown? Amazon Seeks To Hire 33,000 People
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
September 9, 2020

Share

NEW YORK — Amazon is on a hiring spree.

In the latest sign of how it’s prospering while others are faltering during the pandemic, Amazon said Wednesday it is seeking to bring aboard 33,000 people for corporate and tech roles in the next few months.

Demand has been so high, Amazon has struggled to deliver items as fast as it normally does and had to hire 175,000 more people to help pack and ship orders in its warehouses. Walmart and Target have also seen sales soar during the pandemic.

It’s the largest number of job openings it’s had at one time, and the Seattle-based online behemoth said the hiring is not related to the jobs it typically offers ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.

Amazon can afford to grow its workforce: It is one of the few companies that has thrived during the coronavirus outbreak. People have turned to it to order groceries, supplies and other items online, helping the company bring in record revenue and profits between April and June. That came even though it had to spend $4 billion on cleaning supplies and to pay workers overtime and bonuses.

Demand has been so high, Amazon has struggled to deliver items as fast as it normally does and had to hire 175,000 more people to help pack and ship orders in its warehouses. Walmart and Target have also seen sales soar during the pandemic.

But other retailers have had a rougher time. J.C. Penney, J.Crew and Brooks Brothers have all gone bankrupt. And Lord & Taylor, which has been in business for nearly 200 years, recently said it will be closing its stores for good. Companies across other industries have announced buyouts or layoffs, including Coca-Cola and American Airlines.

In August, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.4% from 10.2% the month before, but hiring growth slowed, with the country adding 1.4 million jobs last month compared to 1.7 million in July.

To Fill the 33,000 Jobs, Amazon Said Will Hold an Online Career Fair Sept. 16

Others are hiring, too. UPS said Wednesday that it plans to bring in 100,000 people to help it deliver packages during the busy holiday season, which is about the same amount of people it hired last year.

Amazon said its corporate and tech jobs, whose average pay is $150,000 a year, will be centered around Amazon’s offices across the country, including Denver, New York, Phoenix and its hometown of Seattle. The new hires will work from home at first, but the company said it does want employees to return to the office eventually.

Ardine Williams, Amazon’s vice president of workforce development, said plans to build a second headquarters near Washington, D.C., are going as planned, despite the pandemic, with 1,000 workers already hired.

To fill the 33,000 jobs, Amazon said will hold an online career fair Sept. 16 to collect resumes and give people a chance talk to a recruiter. Those not interested in a job at Amazon can also get resume help, the company said.

Jane Oates, president of the nonprofit WorkingNation and a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor, said that Amazon is different from other companies in that it’s thinking about its future workforce. For example, it announced a program last year to retrain 100,000 of its workers for tech jobs by 2025.

“They’re not only looking for the jobs that need to be done today, they’re also looking at what’s next,” she said.

At an in-person Amazon career fair last year, about 17,000 people showed up and the company said it received more than 200,000 applications for 30,000 jobs.

In July, the company said its workforce topped 1 million worldwide for the first time, making it the second-biggest U.S.-based private employer behind Walmart Inc.

DON'T MISS

Israel Orders Al Jazeera to Close Its Local Operation, Seizes Some Equipment

DON'T MISS

Pro-Palestinian Protesters at USC Comply With Order to Leave

DON'T MISS

Israel Vows Military Operation ‘in the Very Near Future’ After Latest Hamas Attack

DON'T MISS

After Losing Population in Recent Years, California Grows Again. Is That a Good Thing?

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Announces 2024 Graduate Deans’ Medalists

DON'T MISS

Yellen Says Threats to Democracy Risk US Economic Growth, an Indirect Jab at Trump

DON'T MISS

New Sea Route for Gaza Aid on Track. Treating Starving Children Is a Priority

DON'T MISS

As Border Debate Shifts Right, Sen. Alex Padilla Emerges as Persistent Counterforce for Immigrants

DON'T MISS

At Time of Rising Antisemitism, Holocaust Survivors Take on Denial and Hate in New Digital Campaign

DON'T MISS

FUSD Trustees Name Misty Her as Interim Superintendent. National Search Yet to Start

UP NEXT

Merced’s Treacherous ‘Tunnel Lane’ Removed from Northbound Highway 99

UP NEXT

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

UP NEXT

Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

After Losing Population in Recent Years, California Grows Again. Is That a Good Thing?

15 hours ago

Fresno State Announces 2024 Graduate Deans’ Medalists

2 days ago

Yellen Says Threats to Democracy Risk US Economic Growth, an Indirect Jab at Trump

2 days ago

New Sea Route for Gaza Aid on Track. Treating Starving Children Is a Priority

2 days ago

As Border Debate Shifts Right, Sen. Alex Padilla Emerges as Persistent Counterforce for Immigrants

2 days ago

At Time of Rising Antisemitism, Holocaust Survivors Take on Denial and Hate in New Digital Campaign

2 days ago

FUSD Trustees Name Misty Her as Interim Superintendent. National Search Yet to Start

Local Education /

2 days ago

Gov. Newsom Appoints Judges for Fresno, Merced Counties

2 days ago

Assemblymember Soria Dodges Questions About Defamation Lawsuit

2 days ago

Israel Briefs US on Evacuation Plan for Palestinians Ahead of Planned Rafah Assault

2 days ago

Israel Orders Al Jazeera to Close Its Local Operation, Seizes Some Equipment

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-ru...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Israel Orders Al Jazeera to Close Its Local Operation, Seizes Some Equipment

11 hours ago

Pro-Palestinian Protesters at USC Comply With Order to Leave

Photo of Benjamin Netanyahu
11 hours ago

Israel Vows Military Operation ‘in the Very Near Future’ After Latest Hamas Attack

15 hours ago

After Losing Population in Recent Years, California Grows Again. Is That a Good Thing?

2 days ago

Fresno State Announces 2024 Graduate Deans’ Medalists

2 days ago

Yellen Says Threats to Democracy Risk US Economic Growth, an Indirect Jab at Trump

2 days ago

New Sea Route for Gaza Aid on Track. Treating Starving Children Is a Priority

2 days ago

As Border Debate Shifts Right, Sen. Alex Padilla Emerges as Persistent Counterforce for Immigrants

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend