(Bloomberg) – Amazon.com Inc. reports it will extend its hiring streak with an additional 75,000 workers as the online retailer bolsters its logistics operation to meet demand from people locked in their homes by the coronavirus pandemic. .
Amazon said on Monday it had already filled 100,000 previously announced full-time and temporary positions. The wave of hiring and a temporary wage increase of $ 2 an hour will likely cost more than $ 500 million, compared to a previous estimate of $ 350 million, the company said.
Online shopping has increased, especially for staples like toilet paper and groceries, and Amazon and its extensive warehousing and delivery operation have become lifesavers for shoppers who can’t venture out in person.
Despite some of Amazon’s rival tech giants withdrawing their earnings guidelines or warning of uncertain demand during the pandemic, analysts say Amazon will benefit from the virus-driven shopping trends. The company has kept its doors open, as mandatory non-core business confinements close showcases for specialty US physical stores. and Europe.
Meanwhile, Amazon is struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks in its own ranks, with cases at dozens of sites in the United States, according to employees and media reports. Some workers say hiring Amazon has helped the company fill the roles of employees who have stopped going to work for fear of contracting or spreading the virus. Amazon says employees can stay home without fear of being fired or receiving disciplinary sanctions, and interviews with workers at sites across the country suggest that many don’t show up for work.
Amazon also says it has implemented more intensive cleaning and hygiene measures at its facilities, including temperature controls and reorganized break rooms to encourage social estrangement. Still, employees get sick as the pandemic spreads, and some have expressed concern that Amazon isn’t doing enough to keep them safe. Workers at Amazon warehouses in New York, Michigan, and Illinois have staged strikes that require the company to close its facilities for prolonged cleanup.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said last week it was investigating working conditions at an Amazon warehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, where at least 21 employees were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Original Note: Amazon Will Hire 75,000 More Workers to Meet Pandemic Demand (1)
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