'Opportunity Amid Crisis?'... US Companies Increasing Employment Despite COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Despite the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), American retail companies such as Amazon and Walmart are significantly increasing their employment. While it is common for concerns about mass unemployment to grow as economic activities shrink due to COVID-19, these companies are turning the crisis into an opportunity by targeting online channels. Analysts also suggest that this could be a turning point for the U.S. consumer market to be rapidly reorganized around large-scale industries.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 23rd (local time), major U.S. retailers plan to hire approximately 500,000 additional employees within the next few weeks.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

First, Walmart announced plans to hire 150,000 people. Walmart also decided to improve the quality of employment by providing paid sick leave to employees working in all stores and warehouses. The hiring process, which used to take two weeks, will now be completed within 24 hours. Walmart also plans to pay $550 million (about 690 billion KRW) in bonuses to hourly workers.

Amazon, the largest online shopping mall in the U.S., recently announced plans to hire 100,000 delivery and warehouse employees. The U.S. pharmacy chain CVS also plans to increase its workforce by 50,000. CVS will provide paid sick leave to part-time employees and pay bonuses during the COVID-19 period.

The reason these companies are expanding employment is due to the increase in online orders. With government orders to stay at home, demand relying on online supply of daily necessities has increased.

Dan Bartlett, Walmart’s Vice President, explained, "The large-scale hiring is not to fill shortages but because the demand for labor itself has increased."

Restaurant chains are also increasing delivery staff. Pizza Hut plans to hire 30,000 people, another pizza chain Papa John’s plans to hire 20,000, and Domino’s Pizza plans to hire 10,000 additional employees. Additionally, discount retailers Dollar General and Dollar Tree plan to hire 50,000 and 25,000 people respectively, and supermarket chain Albertsons plans to hire 30,000. Convenience store operator 7-Eleven and food distribution chain Kroger will also hire 20,000 and 10,000 new employees respectively.

However, not all retailers are increasing employment. U.S. department store Macy’s and electronics retailer Best Buy have closed their offline stores and are operating only online due to the impact of COVID-19. Small grocery stores are also considering workforce reductions.

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