Amazon to hire 100,000 new employees in the US and Canada this year

These are in addition to the 33,000 jobs the e-commerce giant revealed last week

Amazon has seen an uptick in business due to the Covid-19 pandemic as more people are opting for online purchases. Reuters

Amazon is hiring 100,000 new permanent and part-time employees in the US and Canada as it expands its operations.

The company plans to open 100 new operations buildings in September across its fulfillment centres, delivery stations, sorting centres and other sites.

Most of the new positions are at Amazon's new buildings, the e-commerce giant said in a statement on Monday.

All roles will have a minimum wage of $15 (Dh55) an hour and the company is also offering sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000 in some cities and access to career enhancement training programmes.

“On top of Amazon’s $15 minimum wage, the company offers full-time employees industry-leading benefits, which include health, vision and dental insurance from day one.”

Hiring for the new roles is already underway, Amazon said.

These new roles are in addition to 33,000 jobs the company announced last week.

“As part of Career Day 2020 [on September 16], we are giving attendees the chance to learn about the 33,000 Amazon jobs currently available across the US, ranging from corporate and tech roles that support Alexa, AWS, operations technology and Prime Video,” the company said.

It has mobilised a team of 1,000 recruiters to provide 20,000 free, one-on-one career coaching sessions in a single day.

Amazon has seen its business boom after stay-at-home directives to contain Covid-19 prompted people to shop online. Its shares have surged almost 70 per cent this year, lifting its market value to $1.56 trillion.

To meet the growing demand, the company has been on a hiring spree.

Earlier this month, Amazon said it is adding 10,000 new permanent jobs and 20,000 seasonal positions in the UK this year.

At the end of the second quarter to June 30, there were 876,800 full- and part-time employees, a 34 per cent year-on-year increase and nearly 36,400 more than in the first quarter of this year.

Amazon's net income increased 100 per cent year-on-year to $5.2 billion in the second quarter due to increased sales.