Amazon.com is increasing the number of workers it is hiring for the holidays this year to meet an increase in customer demand, revealing a possible shift in the way consumers shop.
The retailer says it plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal employees this year. It hired 80,000 seasonal employees in 2014.
“We’ve hired more than 25,000 full-time associates across the U.S. in recent months and we’re looking forward to adding 100,000 seasonal employees for the upcoming holiday season,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “Following last year’s holiday season, tens of thousands of seasonal employees found regular, full-time roles with Amazon. We’re excited to grow our team by finding great talent through our seasonal hiring efforts in addition to creating new full-time jobs that offer comprehensive benefits starting on day one.”
Amazon has more than 90,000 full-time employees across its more than 50 fulfillment centers and 20 sortation centers in the U.S. To meet customer demand and prepare for the 2015 holiday season, Amazon has hired over 25,000 full-time employees since August. Throughout the year on average, nearly 90 percent of associates across the company’s U.S. fulfillment network are regular, full-time employees.
Walmart is hiring 60,000 holiday employees, Target about 70,000 and Macy's 85,000, which are all about flat compared with last year. Kohl's, J.C. Penney and Toys ”R” Us are hiring fewer, while GameStop is hiring about 12% more workers.
