In the next months, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) plans to recruit 55,000 individuals for business and technology positions across the world, according to Chief Executive Andy Jassy.
As of June 30, that’s more than a third of Google’s (GOOGL.O) workforce, and almost all of Facebook’s (FB.O).
In his first press interview since becoming Amazon’s CEO in July, Jassy said the firm needs additional firepower to keep up with demand in retail, cloud computing, and advertising, among other areas. Project Kuiper, the company’s latest bet on launching satellites into space to expand internet access, he added, would also need a large number of new employees.
With Amazon’s annual job fair starting on Sept. 15, Jassy is hoping for a successful recruitment season. “There have been so many jobs that have been displaced or altered as a result of the pandemic, and there are so many people who are thinking about different and new jobs,” Jassy said, citing a PwC study in the United States that found 65 percent of employees sought a new career.
Amazon is advertising engineering, research science, and robotics jobs, which are mostly new to the business rather than jobs that have been vacant for a while, according to the company.
Some businesses have struggled to fill vacancies and mix remote and in-person employment amid a recovering US economy and tightening labor market. It’s unclear how many of the Amazon positions – such as competitive engineering hiring – have been available for a long time.
Amazon, which had previously promoted a “office-centric culture,” subsequently scaled down its goal and, beginning next year, would allow employees to spend just three days a week in person at its headquarters.
Amazon, now the country’s second-largest private employer, plans to hire more than 500,000 employees by 2020, mostly in warehouse and delivery operations. There has been a lot of movement in that region.
He said, “It’s part of what we think makes ‘Career Day’ so timely and useful.” The additional recruits would represent a 20% increase in Amazon’s tech and corporate workforce, which presently stands at about 275,000 people worldwide, according to the firm.
Amazon’s hiring binge is the company’s latest during a time of increased scrutiny of its labor policies and criticism from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Find out more A unsuccessful attempt by some employees in Alabama to form a union earlier this year exposed Amazon’s demanding warehouse labor and strong anti-union attitude.
Following the fight, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whom Jassy replaced, said that the company needed a stronger vision for its workers.
When asked how he would alter Amazon’s rigorous working culture, Jassy said the company’s strong emphasis on consumers and creativity made it ripe for change.
“Everyone at the company has the freedom – and, more importantly, the expectation – to critically examine how it can be improved and then invent ways to improve it.”
To keep up with increasing demand from consumers who want goods delivered to their homes, the business is spending significantly in constructing additional warehouses and raising compensation to entice employees. Amazon has been “very competitive on the compensation side,” according to Jassy.
“We’ve led the way in the $15 minimum wage,” he added, adding that “really, the starting salary is $17 an hour.” in certain places.
Over 40,000 of the more than 55,000 jobs promised by Jassy will be in the United States, with the rest going to India, Germany, and Japan.
When it was looking for a site for its second headquarters in 2017, Amazon promised a major tech hiring spree. Officials from towns and states all across North America fawned over the business because of its employment and tax revenue.
Arlington, Virginia, the winner of Amazon’s “HQ2” sweepstakes, presently has around 2,800 job vacancies, which is a tiny fraction of the 25,000 jobs Amazon has promised it over the next decade. Another 2,000 people have been added to the city of Bellevue, which is located near Amazon’s hometown of Seattle.
The career expo will be held all around the world. Last year, Amazon had 22,000 individuals tune in from India and other countries outside the United States, according to Jassy.
Thanks to Jeffrey Dastin at Reuters whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.
