Amazon to Hire 75,000 Additional Workers Amid Surge in COVID-19 Demand

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] American e-commerce company Amazon has decided to hire an additional 75,000 employees and raise wages in response to the surge in demand for daily necessities due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On the 13th (local time), Amazon announced that it would hire 75,000 more employees to meet customer demand amid the sharp increase in demand for daily necessities. Amazon had already hired 100,000 people last month and put them to work. It also decided to raise employees' hourly wages by $2. In Canada and Europe, hourly wages will be increased by 2 Canadian dollars and 2 euros respectively. Due to this, the initially planned additional payroll of $350 million is expected to rise to $500 million, according to Amazon.

Amazon stated, "We understand that many people are facing economic difficulties as restaurants and other businesses have closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 situation," and added, "We welcome anyone to work with Amazon until they can return to their daily lives and their previous employers can rehire them." Amazon is providing all employees with face masks, has started daily temperature checks, and employees showing fever symptoms are immediately sent home.

Along with this, Amazon has decided to resume delivery of some non-essential items that had been restricted since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Since the end of last week, sellers have been allowed to ship products even if they are not related to health or cleaning supplies. However, this is only allowed if there is space left after stocking daily necessities in the warehouses. Amazon acknowledged this fact to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), stating, "The policy of prioritizing products will continue, so quantities will be limited, but we will allow sellers to sell goods through us."

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