Amazon Prepares for the Holidays by Hiring 70,000 Seasonal Workers

Amazon.com Inc. is gearing up for the holidays. The company is looking forward with great anticipation to a bountiful season and has decided that additional manpower is needed to cater to the expanding needs of its clientele. The Seattle-based company announced that it is hiring 70,000 seasonal workers. It is good news for job hunters. Amazon needs new additions to its workforce to man its network of warehouses in the United States.

The same goes for Amazon warehouses in the United Kingdom. The company confirmed that 15,000 additional seasonal hires are expected in the UK which is a 50% increase when compared to last year.

Another busy season

What began as an online site that caters to book lovers, Amazon has evolved throughout the years. It eventually became the largest online retailer in the world. Today, the company offers various items and services that appeal to those who prefer easy and hassle-free online transactions.

Over the course of Amazon’s evolution as a seller, its client base has steadily increased as well. As such, added manpower is definitely expected. Last year, the company hired 50,000 additional workers in order to respond to the needs of the holiday operations. This year, the number of additional hands hired, which is a lofty 70,000 seasonal workers, has increased by 40%.

According to Amazon’s representatives, seasonal hiring has already become customary in the company’s operations in order to properly address the perennial increase in demand. A spokesperson for Amazon also added that hiring temporary employees also gives them the opportunity to acquire employees that are performers who rise up to the occasion.

Strategic plot

The new employees will be distributed and assigned to warehouses located across the United States. Theses warehouses are strategically located in places close to urban centers like San Antonio and San Francisco. The logic behind this idea is to have a base in a locality that serves as a point of origin. This base is close to areas where services are in high demand. The proximity results in speedy delivery. Amazon can also easily offer new and innovative services such as door-to-door delivery of groceries. Amazon needs this strategy in order to fight head to head with rival companies such as Wal-Mart and eBay Inc. that offers identical services.

Not just temporary

Amazon Inc. is said to have 89 warehouses in the globe employing hundreds of thousands of workers. Its warehouses in the United States houses over 20,000 full time workers with complete benefits. The hiring of temporary or seasonal employees in order to compensate for the increase in demand due during the holidays does not mean that the workers are just given the chance to earn. The company has made it clear that even through people are hired on a seasonal or temporary status they are also entitled to healthcare benefits and a surprisingly high wage, which is almost comparable to those with regular status.

Amazon has gained a good reputation in the workforce arena by making temporary employees regular. In 2012, the company boasted that thousands of temporary employees were made regular. This is also expected to happen this year. A total of 7,000 temporary employees had already been transferred to full time status.