- Amazon said Tuesday it is hiring 250,000 employees in the U.S. to handle the holiday rush.
- It also increases the average hourly wage for warehouse and delivery workers.
- Warehouse and delivery workers now earn an average of $20.50 per hour (up from $19 per hour).
A worker sorts packages in the exit dock of the Amazon fulfillment center in Eastvale, California, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
Watchara Phomicinda | MediaNews Group | The Riverside Press-Enterprise via Getty Images
Amazon said Tuesday it is hiring 250,000 employees in the U.S. to handle the holiday rush. It also increases the average hourly wage for warehouse and delivery workers.
Amazon typically increases its workforce around peak holiday shopping season, hiring hordes of temporary workers to better keep up with rising demand.
The number of vacation hires is a significant increase compared to previous years. Last year, the company announced it would hire 150,000 employees for the holidays.
The new hires include full-time, part-time and seasonal warehouse and delivery employees, Amazon said. The hourly wage for these positions ranges from $17 to $28, and the company offers starting bonuses worth $1,000 to $3,000 at some locations.
The company said warehouse and delivery workers will now earn an average of $20.50 an hour, up from $19 an hour. Amazon announced pay increases for delivery drivers last week at its conference for members of its contracted delivery partner program.
Amazon has gradually raised the average starting salary of its frontline employees in recent years amid rising tensions between workers. Warehouse and delivery workers have taken steps to organize at several facilities, while lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the camp’s injury record, among other things.
With the latest pay increase, some locations will offer employees up to $28 an hour, Amazon said.
Amazon, the second largest employer in the US after Walmart, employed around 1.46 million people worldwide at the end of the second quarter.