Online retail giant Amazon.com is planning a massive workforce expansion as over 5,000 new full-time workers join its fulfilment centres. The company, which is one of the online world’s largest retailers, claims that it will also hire 2,000 new people to fill customer service roles in one of the biggest staff expansions in history.
Amazon.com has fared well in recent years as sales of its retail products rise, along with its ultra-successful Kindle e-reader. The company is now one of the largest US retailers, with a North American presence rivalling that of big box retail chains such as Wal-Mart.
With many of its high street rivals out of business – the former book retail leader Borders one such example – and others struggling to achieve their previous sales, Amazon’s expansion couldn’t come at a better time for the company. The new jobs are in the company’s fulfilment centres – one of the industry’s biggest supply chains.
The positions are compensated well, with Amazon paying around 30 percent above market salaries for the retail industry. The company has automated a large amount of its fulfilment centre operations, allowing it to focus on hiring skilled staff to run its large network of warehouses, storage centres, and shipping bases.
Amazon’s hiring practices are focused on developing long-term careers for its new workers, with the company’s Career Choice program providing financial support for employees interested in acquiring skills relevant to their position. The program will pay as much as 95 percent of tuition fees for programs that are helpful to workers.
While other retail firms may be struggling due to reduced consumer spending and a poor economy, Amazon.com is one example of a growing level of employment in the United States. The company’s new fulfilment centre was visited by Barack Obama as part of a job creation tour, who praised Amazon.com for its approach to hiring.
