Unemployed? Amazon Hiring 80,000 Temp Workers for Expected Holiday Rush

Online retail giant Amazon.com is hiring 80,000 seasonal workers to help cover the expected holiday rush. This is 10,000 more seasonal hires than last year. Why the increase? There are several contributing factors.

The online shopping hub has “more than 50 fulfillment centers in the US, and will have more than 15 sorting centers open by the end of the year,” according to the LA Times. In addition, both Sacramento and San Francisco will be home to pop-up Amazon holiday shopping kiosks. Career counseling firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that this year’s hiring boon represents the highest for the retailer since 1999.

However, the reported retail sales data from the Commerce Department shows that consumer spending was down 0.3 percent in September. Some suspect that this holiday season may follow that trend, with consumers remaining careful with their spending. Some economists, however, believe that consumer confidence is up, citing “lower gas prices and a healthier job market.”

Business Week reports that Amazon’s pattern has been to also hire “tens of thousands” of seasonal workers around this time of year in it’s overseas warehouses. Such a move may be seen in the coming weeks.

The good news for some of the temp hires is that Amazon reports it regularly hires “thousands” of the temporary workers for full-time employment at some point following the holiday rush. This year there have already been 10,000 such hire conversions, with Amazon stating there will be more to come after the upcoming holiday season.

Some other major retailers, such as Target and JC Penny, will be hiring about the same number of seasonal workers this year as they did last year. Target seasonal work opportunities may be found and applied for here. JC Penny seasonal work may be applied for here.

Like Amazon, Walmart is also ramping up their seasonal hiring efforts. Walmart will be hiring about 10 percent more workers this holiday season, totaling about 60,000 hires. Seasonal work with Walmart may be located and applied for here.

Anyone interested in applying for one of the 80,000 seasonal jobs with Amazon.com may do so here.

These won’t be the only retailers adding seasonal jobs, as businesses such as Kohl’s, Gap, Macy’s and UPS will all also be adding to their seasonal hiring. These companies represent roughly a combined 311,000 seasonal jobs. For job seekers, this time of year may be a good one for not only obtaining temporary work, but getting an opportunity to stay on with the company after the holidays end.

(Photo courtesy of Drew Stephens)