Amazon ups holiday hires to 300,000; to offer some seasonal employees healthcare
Amazon is looking to hire a record-setting number of seasonal employees and, starting in January, will provide some of them with health benefits.
The online giant plans to hire more than 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time, and full-time roles across its core operations network nationwide. This is the most seasonal workers Amazon has ever hired and a 20% increase from the 250,000 seasonal hires (itself a record) the company brought on for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 holiday periods.
[READ MORE: For third straight year, Amazon will hire 250,000 holiday workers]
According to Amazon, seasonal employees will earn an average of $20/hour with the opportunity to transition into full-time roles. The company will post new seasonal job opportunities weekly through December and prospective seasonal employees can sign up for automated job alerts.
Eligible seasonal workers to receive health benefits in January
Starting on Jan. 1, 2027, Amazon will extend its health benefit offering to seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours per week. This includes seasonal workers who join the company during the 2026 holiday season as well as employees who are hired in the future (Amazon fills seasonal roles all year long).
Eligible employees hired before Jan. 1 will gain access to coverage on that date, while those hired on or after Jan. 1 will have access from their first day. Plan options start as low as at $5 a week with $5 copays.
Seasonal hiring trends downward
Despite Amazon’s robust seasonal hiring plans, there appears to be a broader developing trend of retailers hiring fewer seasonal associates than in the 2025 holiday season. Seasonal retail hiring is expected to fall below last year’s level to 450,000 jobs added during the fourth quarter of the year, according to a prediction from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In September, specialty arts and crafts retailer Michaels said it plans to hire more than 10,000 seasonal team members, which is flat with last year.
In addition, Dick’s Sporting Goods is returning its seasonal staffing to pre-2025 levels. The retailer expects to hire approximately 8,400 seasonal associates across its Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dick’s House of Sport, Going Going Gone! and Public Lands store locations for the upcoming holiday season.
This represents a 40% reduction from the approximately 14,000 seasonal workers Dick’s hired for the 2025 holiday season, although in line with its 2024 and 2023 seasonal hiring totals. The Foot Locker division of Dick’s will hire approximately 2,900 seasonal associates across its Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS and Champs Sports store locations in North America this holiday season, also a roughly 40% year-over-year decline.
