Ahead of a holiday shopping season analysts expect to set e-commerce records, Amazon said it will hire 250,000 seasonal workers. The tech giant said in a blog post that it is hiring for the seasonal roles across its fulfillment and transportation operations in the U.S. The hiring total is flat from what Amazon announced for the 2023 season. Analysts often use Amazon’s holiday hiring projections as an indicator for the company’s expectations for the all-important November and December shopping period.
Seasonal employees earn at least $18 per hour and have access to benefits such as health care starting with their first day on the job, according to Amazon’s blog post. Overall, forecasters expect holiday-related e-commerce spending to accelerate this year. Adobe (ADBE) projects U.S. online sales to reach $240.8 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, up 8.4% from 2023. That was also stronger than the 4.9% year-over-year growth in the same period last year.
“Although there is an anticipated increase in the demand and the volume, we feel like the 250,000 is the right number to continue to grow and advance with our operations,” said Sandy Gordon, vice president of Global Operations Employee Experience at Amazon. It was unclear what percentage of the 250,000 seasonal workers, which include staff in sort centers, fulfillment centers and delivery stations, would be in fulfillment centers or transport employees. The transport employees will not include delivery service partners or their teams, according to a company spokesperson.
Online holiday shoppers are expected to spend a record $240.8 billion, up 4.9% from last year. Broader holiday spending is expected to rise modestly at 3.2%, according to a Mastercard forecast.
