Amazon has announced its intention to recruit a quarter of a million seasonal employees in the United States for the upcoming 2023 festive season, signaling the commencement of its holiday preparations.
Simultaneously, the online retail behemoth reported a significant increase in the average wage for its customer fulfillment and transportation staff in the US, now reaching $20.50 per hour. This represents a growth of over 50% in the last five years.
Despite this positive development, Amazon faces lingering criticism from both new and existing employees regarding its pandemic-related workforce reductions, which affected 27,000 workers and remain a source of contention.
John Felton, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations, expressed enthusiasm about the holiday season and stated, “We’re excited to hire 250,000 additional people this year to help serve customers across the country.”
In a press release, Amazon disclosed that it had invested over $10 billion in hourly pay over the past five years, along with improvements to employee benefits, including various day-one benefits.
Amazon’s announcement highlighted that the average hourly wage for workers in customer fulfillment and transportation roles now stands at $20.50, with some employees earning up to $28 per hour. The lowest wage for this category currently starts at $17 per hour. Additionally, certain regions offer signing bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.
Amazon also projected that new hires in this sector starting immediately could expect to witness a wage increase of 13% or more over the next three years.
Traditionally, Amazon experiences a surge in its operations during the holiday season. Moreover, with the company expanding its support for ecommerce businesses operating on their own websites, its employees are expected to face a substantial workload in the coming months.
