Amazon wants to hire 250,000 people in the US for the holiday season

Online retailer Amazon wants to hire about 250,000 people in the United States for the busy holiday season, when consumers around the world do extensive Christmas shopping. This applies to full-time, part-time, and temporary employees. Amazon also announced that it will increase wages for logistics workers to prevent people who already work for the company from looking for other work.

The Seattle-based company typically ramps up staffing levels in the fall to ensure it has enough staff for the crucial holiday shopping season. But this year the company, which is the largest private employer in the United States after supermarket group Walmart, appears to be doing everything it can to prevent staff shortages. Last year, Amazon said it would hire 150,000 employees for this busy period. In 2019, the company promised to employ 200,000 people. According to the latest data, the company employs a total of about 1.5 million people.

Early last month, Amazon reported that it was still seeing strong sales growth despite the weak economy. All divisions of the online store group showed growth, but advertising revenues in particular increased year-on-year. The company attributed this to the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This allows Amazon to provide more targeted advertising, something that is in high demand.