(WGHP) – Amazon is hiring for 150,000 seasonal positions with an $18 average pay and sign-on bonuses, the company said in a statement.
“Our seasonal hiring helps us deliver on our promises to customers while also providing flexibility to our full-time employees during busy periods,” said Alicia Boler Davis, senior vice president of global customer fulfillment.
Davis said the seasonal positions could lead to full-time work for some.
Jobs in Amazon’s operations network include stowing, picking, packing, shipping and more. New hires will be trained, and all facilities follow COVID-19 health and safety protocols, Amazon said.
Amazon is far from the only retailer looking to hire ahead of the holidays. Companies that typically hire thousands of seasonal workers are facing one of the tightest job markets in decades, making it unlikely they’ll find all the workers they need.
Job openings are already plentiful, allowing job seekers to be pickier about where they work. There were 10.4 million job openings at the end of August and 11.1 million openings the month before, the highest on record since at least December 2000, when the government started recording that figure. At the same time, the Labor Department said that the number of people quitting their jobs jumped to 4.3 million in August, up from 4 million in July.
Even before the holiday hiring season, employers were so desperate to find workers that they raised pay above $15 an hour, started offering four-figure sign-on bonuses and promised to pay their schooling. But that yielded only limited success. If they can’t find the workers they need in time for the holidays, employers will likely rely on existing staff to work more overtime, which can become costly for businesses and lead to burnout for workers.
Jobs are available in hundreds of cities and towns across America. Interested candidates can see all the regions with open positions at www.amazon.com/apply.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
