Coronavirus prompts Amazon to hire 75,000 additional employees
Amazon hired 100,000 workers in the last four weeks
Walmart and Amazon are hiring more temporary workers and offering more pay in response to the coronavirus. FOX Business’ Susan Li with more.
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Amazon is seeking to hire 75,000 additional employees to meet the surge in orders for essential products as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, the Seattle-based company committed over $350 million globally to increase pay for its teams during the coronavirus pandemic and promised to hire additional employees at sites across the U.S. as the coronavirus keeps more people at home and shopping online.
Amazon is looking for warehouse workers, shoppers and delivery drivers.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 202.61 | -8.87 | -4.19% |
As of Monday, the second-largest U.S.-based employer announced it already hired more than 100,000 new associates in the past four weeks alone.
(The Associated Press)
“We continue to see increased demand as our teams support their communities, and are going to continue to hire, creating an additional 75,000 jobs to help serve customers during this unprecedented time,” Amazon said.
The move is mimicked by essential retailers nationwide that are looking to ramp up their workforces to meet the demand for critical products such as food, household essentials and medical supplies.
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However, it also comes as welcome relief for scores of individuals who have been laid off or furloughed as part of the crisis.
"We know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants, and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis and we welcome anyone out of work to join us at Amazon until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back," the company added.
To date, 16.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment aid due to the outbreak. In April, more than 20 million may lose their job, potentially pushing the unemployment rate to 15 percent when the April employment report is released in early May.
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The company is accepting applications at amazon.com/jobsnow.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.