Amazon Is Hiring an Additional 75,000 Workers Due to Coronavirus

The effects of the coronavirus on businesses across our country is getting real. Too real. For many small businesses, it may be a struggle to survive this time of social distancing and shelter-in-place orders. People are staying home in droves. 

The flipside of this is that businesses that focus on home delivery are seeing unprecedented increases. At first, it was all about getting cleaning supplies and toilet paper, but now people are looking for more than just the basics.

Just last month Amazon hired 100,000 workers. As it ramps up its stocking and delivering of “non-essential” items, the retail giant plans to hire 75,000 more, according to an announcement from earlier this week. 

Amazon did not set a date by which it plans to have all of those new hires on board. 

The announcement went on to say that Amazon is also trying to up its employer game by improving pay and worker safety conditions. While the company previously claimed to spend an expected $350 million to increase wages, it now says that the number has bumped up to over $500 million. 

In Amazon’s jobs portal, applicants can select an array of immediately available positions across 20 states and Canada. The states listed are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. Work-from-home jobs are also available. There is also the option to sign up for job alerts via email or text if your state is not listed.

The majority of jobs available appear to be warehouse associate positions. Delivery driver positions do not require a special license. Shopper positions are part-time and allow for flexible scheduling.

Amazon’s jobs portal indicates that applicants do not need to submit a resume or have previous work experience. It also states that people can begin working in as soon as a week. So, for those who are looking to build their resume or get started in the workforce, this could be an open door. 

The announcement also gave a shout out to any workers from suffering industries such as restaurants, hospitality or travel who have been furloughed. “We welcome anyone out of work to join us at Amazon until their past employer can bring them back.”

Amazon raised it’s hourly minimum wage to $15 in 2018, but through the end of April 2020, at least, that has been bumped up to $17.

Tyler Omoth is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.