News

Amazon's growing workforce is proof people are shopping more online

Amazon announced plans to hire 100,000 people for the holidays, which is 25 percent more employees than it added last year.

October 20, 2015

Amazon announced plans to hire 100,000 people for the holidays, which is 25 percent more employees than it added last year, according to the Seattle Times.

The Seattle-based online retail giant told the paper Tuesday that it would hire across the country for jobs in its fulfillment and sorting facilities, which is on top of the more than 25,000 people it recently brought in to fill regular, full-time positions.

"It used to be that the bulk of holiday hires would be in customer-facing positions on the sales floor and behind the cash register," CEO John Challenger said in the article. "These extra workers would also help pick up the slack in the back room, helping to receive and stock increased deliveries. Now, as more and more shopping is completed online, the holiday hiring is shifting away from stores and into the warehouses."

Amazon's announcement about hiring increases comes on the heels of Labor Department reports earlier this month that September saw a hiring slowdown. Average hourly wages were down 1 cent and had risen by only 2.2 percent in the past year.

Although the National Retail Federation has predicted that holiday spending, including online sales, will rise 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion, the number is still behind the 4.1 percent increase last year in November and December. The NRF expects online spending, however, to increase 6 percent to 8 percent to $105 billion. Online sales grew 5.8 percent during last year’s holiday season.

The shift to online shopping is also being seen at traditional retailers, as they increase workers at warehouses devoted to online orders. Walmart, Macy's and Target, for example, have added large e-commerce centers to turn over orders as they compete with Amazon.