In less than a month, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) added roughly 100,000 workers to its warehouse and delivery operations and on Monday, it said it would seek to add 75,000 more. Amazon noted the jobs are temporary and, in part, an effort to alleviate the surging number of people out of work as the novel coronavirus decimates other industries.
“We know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants, and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis, and we welcome anyone out of work to join us at Amazon until their past employer can bring them back,” the company said in its Day One blog post.
The additional workers are undoubtedly needed as a rush of online orders have in some cases overwhelmed Amazon’s fulfillment operations. In the coming days, warehouses will also have to deal with a wave of shipments from third-party sellers. After weeks of only taking in items deemed essential like toilet paper, cleaning products and some food, Amazon this week will start accepting the products from these sellers looking to restock their nonessential inventory, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The costs of these operations during the pandemic are higher. Amazon is giving workers pay hikes of $2 an hour, which was expected to cost $350 million but now will rise to above $500 million. And there is the backlash from workers who say the company isn’t doing enough to protect their health from the coronavirus’ spread.
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