Amazon announced plans Monday morning to hire 7,000 additional employees to their U.S. operations. The Seattle based retailer plans to add 5, 000 additional full-time jobs to 17 of its fulfillment centers across the United States—a 25% increase in current staffing. Additionally, Amazon is hiring 2,000 customer-service staff, including part-time and seasonal workers.
In order to reduce shipping costs and fulfill orders as quickly as possible Amazon added 20 centers last year and plans to add five more this year. The company has even created special programs in order to entice prospective employees.
Career Choice program, for example, pays thousands of dollars for warehouse employees to take technical and vocational courses in high-demand areas including engineering, information technology, transportation and accounting.
Last month’s job report showed the country’s unemployment rate at 7.6%. Ahead of Friday’s July jobs report , the company’s Chattanooga, Tennessee location is expecting a visit from President Obama on Tuesday. The president has plans to address the topic of jobs in the United States and proposals to jump start private sector job growth.
Traci Oshiro