Amazon to hire 100K seasonal workers for 2020 holiday season

Amazon plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers for the 2020 holiday season, the company announced Tuesday. 

The retail giant’s planned hiring haul is half of the 200,000 seasonal employees hired for last year’s holiday season, according to Bloomberg News. But it follows Amazon’s mass hiring earlier in the year as demand for online ordering has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Amazon hired 175,000 workers as part of a hiring campaign that began in March as the company experienced holiday-like demand early in 2020. The company also committed to hiring 100,000 people for its logistics network, according to Bloomberg. 

The new jobs will be in the operations group and will involve stowing, picking, packing, shipping and delivering. But they could also include managing people, being a safety ambassador, working in human resources, IT and operating robotics, according to a release. 

Amazon will fully train new employees and noted its facilities “follow strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols.”

The company also said Tuesday it has promoted about 35,000 employees in the operations group this year. Amazon’s shares have jumped more than 73 percent in 2020, according to Bloomberg.

The hiring plan comes as the pandemic has left millions of Americans out of work in the economic downturn caused by the virus.