Coverage: Amazon ups holiday hiring to 120,000

Online retailer Amazon.com plans to hire 120,000 seasonal workers this holiday, or 20,000 more than it hired last year.

Joshua Jamerson of The Wall Street Journal had the news:

The Seattle retailer plans to add 120,000 seasonal positions, up from 100,000 last year. By comparison, Target Corp. is looking to hire 70,000 additional workers in its stores, the same as last year. However, Target is looking to add 7,500 additional workers for its distribution and fulfillment facilities, up from 6,500 last year, according to a spokeswoman. Macy’s Inc. is planning for 83,000, compared with 85,000 last year. Department stores, specialty shops and big-box retailers have struggled recently, hurt by falling foot traffic as shoppers increasingly turn to Amazon and fast-fashion options such as Hennes & Mauritz AB.

In recent years, big retailers have rapidly added warehouses and distribution centers across the country to get their online orders to customers faster. But some retailers and logistics contractors have struggled to find enough seasonal workersto keep their warehouses and distribution centers humming.

Amazon and others have tried to transition some seasonal positions to full-time jobs after the holidays are over in an effort to lure employees. The company said 14,000 seasonal employees were hired full time last year, and the company plans to bring on more full-time workers this year.

Todd Bishop of GeekWire wrote that Amazon’s hiring could indicate strong sales this holiday:

The numbers are closely watched each year as a barometer of Amazon’s expectations for the holiday shopping season, and as a measure of the Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s growth.

Seasonal hiring isn’t included in Amazon’s official employee count, which now stands at more than 268,000 people worldwide. However, Amazon says many of the seasonal positions lead to regular full-time roles. Last year, the company created 100,000 seasonal positions, and brought more than 14,000 of those hires on as long-term employees after the holidays.

Here’s the list of states where Amazon is hiring seasonal workers this year: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Robert Channick of the Chicago Tribune focused on Amazon’s warehouse in Joliet:

Seasonal hiring is up 20 percent from last year to support “growing customer demand,” according to the company. Last year, more than 14,000 employees that were hired for the holiday season became full-time employees.

Opened last October with 1,000 full-time employees, Amazon’s 500,000-square-foot Joliet fulfillment center was the first in Illinois for the online retail giant, which previously relied on warehouses in Indiana and Wisconsin to serve Chicago and avoid state sales tax.

The Joliet warehouse positions pay up to $15.50 per hour. Candidates need a high school diploma and must be able to lift boxes weighing up to 49 pounds, stand or walk for 10 to 12 hours, withstand temperatures occasionally exceeding 90 degrees and be able to frequently “push, pull, squat, bend and reach,” according to Amazon’s online job posting.