Amazon Now Hiring Across America
By Sam Lewis
More than 5,000 full-time jobs created to satisfy needs of growing fulfillment network
In an effort to meet the needs of growing customer demand, Amazon — the Seattle-based internet retailer — announced it would begin hiring immediately for 5,000+ full-time positions in its U.S. fulfillment network, which already employs 20,000+. “We’re hiring more than 5,000 people to join our team and help us continue to innovate and serve our customers,” said Dave Clark, vice president of worldwide operations and customer service at Amazon. This is Amazon’s second push in as many years to expand its fulfillment centers. In 2012, Amazon opened 8 fulfillment centers inside the U.S. leading to thousands of new jobs in communities across the country.
Fulfillment network duties include picking, packing, and shipping customer orders while learning and operating the technologies that make Amazon run. These newly created jobs are available in fulfillment centers in the following locations: Breingingsville, PA, Chattanooga, TN, Charleston, SC, Chester, VA, Coppel, TX, Haslet, TX, Hebron, KY, Indianapolis, IN, Jeffersonville, IN, Middletown, DE, Murfeesboro, TN, Patterson, CA, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Bernardino, CA, Spartanburg, SC, and Tracy, CA.
In addition to fulfillment center openings, Amazon is hiring 2,000+ positions in its customer service network. The customer service jobs include a mix of full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions at its customer service centers in Grand Forks, ND, Huntington, WV, Kennewick, WA, and Winchester, KY. Also available are several work from home customer service positions in Arizona, Washington, and Oregon.
Amazon’s positions pay 30 percent more than traditional retail jobs and include traditional benefits — healthcare, 401(k), and company stock awards. In addition to traditional benefits, Amazon employment brings new and innovative programs like Career Choice, where Amazon will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses of in-demand fields, even if the course and its skills are not related to a career at Amazon. “We’re focused on sustained innovation across Amazon and want to help our employees succeed—whether at Amazon or elsewhere,” said Clark. In a time in the U.S. where jobs are hard to come by, especially well paying, full-time jobs with additional benefits, Amazon is doing its best to make the tide turn.
Higher spending has been a factor in Amazon’s business plans as it reported a net loss of $7million in the second quarter of 2013. Despite the loss, Amazon did experience significant growth in revenue and will continue to expand its warehouses and fulfillment centers’ workforce by 25 percent. The expansion is an effort to maintain its toehold above competing retailers and e-commerce sites, along with providing new services the competition does not offer.