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As Amazon Hires 50,000 More Employees, Retail Competitors Rethink Job Priorities

Amazon is hosting a national job fair on Aug. 2 to fill more than 50,000 employees across its U.S. fulfillment network. The hiring splash is part of Amazon’s push to hire 130,000 workers by mid-2018, with this new round of hiring coming in the lead-up to the approaching holiday season.

If Amazon fulfills this hiring pledge, it will have approximately 300,000 employees — a whopping 10x the number of employees in 2011.

As if Amazon hasn’t shaken up retail enough already, the e-Commerce giant is pulling out every stop to dominate the supply chain through manpower where other retailers simply can’t. Most major retailers don’t have the bandwidth and budget to feasibly hire 50,000 employees for the holiday season, let alone as full-time year-round workers. Only Walmart (2.3 million employees), Kroger (443,000), The Home Depot (406,000) and Target (323,000) presently have more estimated employees than Amazon’s anticipated 300,000.

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Additionally, with an anticipated 9,450+ stores set to close in 2017 and 60,000+ jobs already cut in the first six months of the year, many retailers won’t have the opportunity to go on hiring sprees because they are too busy sizing down.

But Amazon’s example does teach a lesson to these retailers — they should prioritize hiring in fulfillment and e-Commerce related positions as they reduce their physical footprint. While retailers that make these investments will inevitably pay an extra price for warehousing employees or delivery drivers, their customer experiences are likely to improve in the long run.

‘Amazon Jobs Day’ Set To Take Place In 10 Fulfillment Centers Nationwide

Amazon is set to hold a multi-city job fair — dubbed “Amazon Jobs Day” —in 10 fulfillment centers throughout the country from 8 am to 12 noon local time on Aug. 2. Applicants will meet current Amazon workers and tour the warehouses.

Amazon Jobs Day events will be held in Maryland, Tennessee, Ohio, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana.

In a statement, Amazon revealed that more than 10,000 of the jobs will be part-time at various U.S. sortation centers. The employees in these positions will sort and consolidate packages to enable fast shipping and Sunday delivery.

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