Amazon adds jobs, expands DC capacity

SEATTLE — As Amazon prepares one of its distribution warehouses for a visit from President Barack Obama, and the economy continues on its path toward recovery, the Internet retailer has announced plans to create more than 5,000 new full-time jobs in its U.S. fulfillment network to meet growing customer demand.

The news is on the heels of Amazon's second-quarter results, which saw the Internet retailer report a loss of $7 million due to increased fulfillment costs and other expense pressures despite seeing sales increase 22% to $15.7 billion.

The company said its sales would have increased 25% were it not for a $392 million headwind related to unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The net loss of $7 million, or two cents a share, was a reversal from the same period the prior year when a profit of $7 million, or one cent a share, was reported.

Amazon employs more than 20,000 full-time workers in its U.S. fulfillment centers. According to the Internet retailer, median pay inside Amazon fulfillment centers is 30% higher than that of people who work in traditional retail stores, which, Amazon says, doesn't include the stock grants that full-time employees receive.

“We’re hiring more than 5,000 people to join our team and help us continue to innovate and serve our customers,” said Dave Clark, VP of worldwide operations and customer service at Amazon. “We’re focused on sustained innovation across Amazon and want to help our employees succeed — whether at Amazon or elsewhere — so we offer programs like Career Choice, where we’ll pay for up to 95% of eligible employees’ tuition regardless of whether the skills they learn are relevant to a career at Amazon.”

The more than 5,000 jobs now available across the fulfillment network include picking, packing and shipping customer orders while engaging with high-end, state of the art technology. The jobs offer competitive pay, a comprehensive benefits package, company stock awards and bonuses.

Amazon is also currently hiring for more than 2,000 jobs across its customer service network, which include a mix of full-time, part-time and seasonal positions. Amazon customer service jobs include providing world-class customer service for Amazon’s millions of customers. Work-from-home positions on Amazon’s customer service team are currently available in Oregon, Washington and Arizona.