E-commerce giant Amazon announced Tuesday that it plans to hire more than 300,000 workers across the United States for the upcoming holiday season. The move marks the company’s first increase in seasonal hiring in three years as it prepares for a surge in online shopping.
For the past three years Amazon had maintained a holiday hiring target of 250,000 workers. The expanded recruitment will cover seasonal, part-time and full-time positions across its core logistics and operations network.
The hiring spree comes as the National Retail Federation projects US holiday retail sales to grow 4.2% year-over-year, surpassing $1 trillion this year.
To attract workers in a competitive labor market Amazon announced that starting next year, seasonal employees working at least 30 hours per week will receive healthcare benefits—a perk typically reserved for regular full-time staff. The decision follows a similar move by rival Walmart, which recently expanded employee healthcare coverage as rising living expenses weigh on American households.
Amazon stated that seasonal workers will earn an average hourly wage of $20 while regular full-time employees will start at a minimum of $20 per hour with average pay reaching nearly $24. The hiring announcement follows minor layoffs within Amazon's retail division earlier this month.
