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Amazon Needs to Hire 100,000 Workers to Keep Up With Coronavirus-Related Demand

The announcement was made as thousands of stores closed today.

By Katie Abel

Katie Abel

Executive Editor

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March 16, 2020 4:20 pm

Employees walk through a lobby at Amazon's headquarters, in Seattle. Amazon, which is growing too big for its Seattle hometown, is spreading out to the East Coast. The online shopping giant ended its 14-month-long competition for a second headquarters Tuesday by selecting New York and Arlington, Va., as the joint winnersAmazon HQ, Seattle, USA - 13 Nov 2018 — Inside Amazon's Seattle headquarters.
Elaine Thompson/Rex Shutterstock

In light of President Donald Trump’s statement today that the coronavirus impact could extend well into the summer, Amazon is prepping to hire 100,000 new delivery and warehouse workers to keep up with demand.

The e-commerce giant is making the move to help keep up with e-commerce deliveries. It is spending $350 million to hike pay for employees in the U.S. and Canada by $2 an hour through April. Similar pay raises will be implemented internationally.

For small business workers grappling with layoffs or missed pay due to closures, the move could be beneficial. “We know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis,” an Amazon spokesperson wrote in a blog post. “We want these people to know we welcome them on our teams until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back.”

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In a blog post shared Friday and updated throughout the weekend, the Seattle-based retailer wrote that it was not only experiencing delays in its Prime delivery service, but also running out of stock of household staples — including hand sanitizer and toilet paper — amid the spread of COVID-19.

“In particular, you will notice that we are currently out of stock on some popular brands and items, especially in household staples categories. You will also notice that some of our delivery promises are longer than usual,” read a post on Day One, Amazon’s official blog. “We are working around the clock with our selling partners to ensure availability of all of our products and to bring on additional capacity to deliver all of your orders.”

Like many companies, Amazon is also reportedly working through issues of the coronavirus spreading within its own ranks.

Amazon will not shutter two of its warehouses in Spain despite workers testing positive for COVID-19, according to a report from the Spanish news site La Información. At the San Fernando warehouse, located just outside of Madrid, management reportedly told employees that two of about 3,000 workers have been infected with the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. At a second warehouse, El Prat de Llobregat, located just outside of Barcelona, one employee has reportedly tested positive for the virus. The infected employees are under quarantine, an Amazon spokesperson told La Información.

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