NEW YORK — Amazon will hire 150,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees at its warehouses before the holiday season.
The announcement, made Thursday, shows the e-commerce giant is taking a less conservative approach to holiday planning than Walmart, which said last month it would hire 40,000 American workers for the holidays, compared with 150,000 for the holidays. 2021.
Amazon, which normally beefs up operations during the holidays, was looking for the same number of temporary employees last year. Its other competitors, UPS and Target, have said their vacation hiring plans will also remain in line with the previous year.
Seattle-based Amazon said workers can earn an average wage of $19 an hour, depending on their position and location within the U.S. The company announced last week that it would raise its average wage for first-rate workers. line at a dollar, a move aimed at attracting more employees in a tight job market. He also said he would make changes so that employees are paid more frequently than once or twice a month.
Analysts expect the holiday shopping season to be affected by the uncertain economic environment, as budget-conscious shoppers seek higher prices for food and other necessities amid high inflation and rising interest rates.
Salesforce, which analyzes online shopping data, forecasts that digital sales will reach $265 billion in the US in November and December. That means holiday sales will remain essentially flat compared to last year, rising just 3%, despite a strong performance compared to pre-pandemic levels, Salesforce said. Analysts note that higher prices could also lead to fewer total orders. And the current inflation rate of 8.3% means that retailers would see a decline in real sales.
To accommodate cash-strapped consumers waiting to spread out their holiday purchases, retailers are offering more discounts, and much earlier. Next week, Amazon will have its second Prime Day-like discount event of the year, the first time the company has held a major sales event twice in a year after its Prime Day in July. Target and Walmart have said they will offer deals this month as well.
Amazon’s overall retail business has been sluggish in recent months as Americans turned away from the pandemic-induced surge in online shopping. Pandemic-driven demand was so high over the past two years that it prompted the company to double its physical footprint and nearly double its workforce to 1.6 million. When the worst of the pandemic subsided, the company found itself with too much space and too many workers. It has been reducing its warehouse capacity in recent months by subletting some of its warehouses, delaying or canceling the construction of others. Between March and June, it said it also cut its workforce by about 100,000 due to attrition.
Although Amazon is increasing hiring at its warehouses, it is tightening its budget elsewhere. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the company is implementing a hiring freeze on the corporate side of its retail business for the rest of the year.