Amazon goes on hiring blitz and bumps up warehouse wages ahead of holiday season
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Amazon (AMZN) announced that it will hire 250K in full-time, part-time, and seasonal fulfillment center and transportation roles across the U.S. in front of the holiday season.
The e-commerce giant is also planning to invest $1.3B this year toward pay increases for customer fulfillment and transportation employees to bring the average pay for those roles to over $20.50 per hour. Those wages represent a more than 50% increase over the last five years. Some locations will see the customer fulfillment and transportation employees positions be offered at as much as $28 per hour.
The Seattle-based company noted that jobs in its operations network include stowing, picking, packing, sorting, shipping customer orders, and more, and are available in hundreds of cities and towns across America. Those roles can be the start of a long-term career inside or outside the company, and offer signing bonuses between $1K and $3K in select locations, with employees earning between $17 and $28 per hour depending on position and location in the U.S.
Amazon statement: "Amazon increases hourly wages every year, and over the last five years, has invested more than $10 billion in hourly pay. This year, Amazon also has continued to invest in employee benefits, adding several new offerings, including a new emergency savings program and a financial assistance pilot program that has helped save customer fulfillment and transportation employees nearly $20 millionâall available from day one of employment."
Sector watch: U.S. retail sales are forecast by Mastercard SpendingPulse to rise 3.7% year-over-year this holiday season. The anticipated growth in retail in the U.S. is said to reinforce continued consumer resilience in the face of inflation, high interest rates, the resumption of student loan payments, and other macroeconomic headwinds. After years of inventory and spending habits being in flux, the 2023 season is anticipated to bring a broader rebalancing across categories, channels, and sectors in alignment with macroeconomic trends. "While the consumer of holidays past may have been a consumer trying to find footing in a rapidly shifting economy, the consumer of holidays present has taken their power back,â said Michelle Meyer, U.S. Chief Economist, Mastercard Economics Institute. âWe expect these individuals to impressively navigate the holiday season, making choices and trade-offs that best suit their lifestyles," she added. E-commerce sales expected to increase +6.7% year-over-year, and in-store sales to increase +2.9% year-over-year. That is a smaller gap than in during the pandemic years when Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Etsy (ETSY), and Wayfair (W) saw huge sales gains.
Shares of Amazon (AMZN) fell 2.63% in early afternoon trading on Tuesday and are down a little more than 6% over the last week.

More on Amazon

Seeking Alphaâs Quant Rating on Amazon
Could A Dividend Be In Amazon's Future?
Amazon And Apple: Why Their Streaming Advantage Is Becoming Clear During Industry Infighting
Amazon: Still Undervalued With 23% Upside Potential
Holiday sales preview: Best Buy could be a winner while Signet could struggle