Amazon Hiring 100,000 Temporary Employees for Massive Holiday Ramp-Up

Amazon.com Inc. is hiring 100,000 seasonal workers - 25 percent more than last year - as it continues to make online ordering almost as fast as running to the store.

The short-term hires will supplement 90,000 permanent employees at Amazon’s 70 warehouses and shipping hubs around the country to get through the retailer’s busiest quarter, the Seattle-based company said in a statement today.

“Following last year’s holiday season, tens of thousands of seasonal employees found regular, full-time roles with Amazon,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations.

The company had created 80,000 seasonal jobs last holiday season.

Amazon has more than 90,000 full-time employees across its more than 50 fulfillment and 20 sortation centers in the United States.

Analysts on average expect Amazon to generate $35.1 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up 20 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The largest online retailer on Thursday will report third-quarter results, which will include its first Prime Day promotion, a one-day blowout sale in July.

Amazon said it sold more products on Prime Day than on Black Friday during last holiday season.

Amazon has expanded same-day delivery to 12 U.S. cities, requiring the company to build new shipping hubs closer to urban areas. It also is delivering meals from restaurants in Seattle and Portland and has created crafts marketplace Amazon Handmade to compete with Etsy Inc. and EBay Inc. as the retailer seeks new revenue sources.

Amazon’s extensive network of warehouses close to customers puts the company far ahead of retail competitors, Scot Wingo, chairman of e-commerce consultant ChannelAdvisor Corp., wrote in his blog.

As Amazon decreases delivery times and costs, “other retailers are going to struggle to come close,” Wingo wrote.

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