Amazon to Hire 100,000 More Workers Amid Surge in Online Orders

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, announced on the 16th (local time) that it will hire an additional 100,000 delivery and warehouse workers in the United States due to a surge in online orders caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to The New York Times (NYT).

According to the NYT, Amazon stated, "We are well aware that many people are facing economic difficulties as many jobs in the service sectors such as travel and restaurants have disappeared due to COVID-19," and added, "We want to let people know that we welcome them to our team until the situation normalizes and previous employers can rehire them."

Not only Amazon, but also U.S. supermarket chains such as Albertsons, Kroger, and Raley's have decided to hire additional staff to cope with the flood of online orders. They also plan to hire workers from the service industries like restaurants and travel who suddenly lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

The number of employees Amazon hires varies seasonally, but recently, the total number of full-time and part-time workers combined reached approximately 798,000, marking an all-time high.

Meanwhile, Amazon added that it will invest $350 million (about 434 billion KRW) to raise wages by about $2 per hour for entry-level delivery center workers in Canada and the United States, where the current wage is around $15 per hour. In the UK, wages will increase by ?2, and in the European Union, by €2.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.