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Reuters

Amazon.com Inc is planning to hire 55,000 people for corporate and technology roles globally in the coming months, Chief Executive Andy Jassy told Reuters.
That’s equal to more than a third of Google’s headcount as of June 30, and close to all of Facebook’s.
Jassy, in his first press interview since he ascended to Amazon’s top post in July, said the company needed more firepower to keep up with demand in retail, the cloud and advertising, among other businesses.
He said the company’s new bet to launch satellites into orbit to widen broadband access, called Project Kuiper, would require a lot of new hires, too.
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With Amazon’s annual job fair scheduled to begin September 15, Jassy hopes now is a good time for recruiting.
“There are so many jobs during the pandemic that have been displaced or have been altered, and there are so many people who are thinking about different and new jobs,” said Jassy, who cited a US survey from PwC that 65 per cent of workers wanted a new gig.
“It’s part of what we think makes ‘Career Day’ so timely and so useful,” he said. The new hires would represent a 20 per cent increase in Amazon’s tech and corporate staff, who currently number around 275,000 globally, the company said.

Amazon’s move, only the latest hiring spree on which it has embarked, follows a period of heightened scrutiny of its labour practices and opposition by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Earlier this year, a failed effort by some staff in Alabama to organise put on display Amazon’s taxing warehouse work and its aggressive stance against unions. In that battle’s aftermath, Jeff Bezos, the CEO whom Jassy succeeded, said Amazon needed a better vision for employees.
Asked how he might change Amazon’s demanding workplace culture, Jassy said its heavy focus on customers and inventiveness set it up for improvements.
“Everybody at the company has the freedom – and really, the expectation – to critically look at how it can be better and then invent ways to make it better.”
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The positions Amazon is marketing include engineering, research science and robotics roles, postings that are largely new to the company rather than jobs others quit, it said.
In a reopening US economy, and tightening labour market, some companies have struggled to fill vacancies and balance remote and in-person work. It was unclear how many of the Amazon jobs – such as for competitive engineering hires – have been open for some time.
Amazon, which earlier touted an “office-centric culture”, later dialled back its vision and offered workers the opportunity to spend just three days a week at its offices in person starting next year.

Already the second-biggest private employer in the US, Amazon brought on more than 500,000 people in 2020, largely in warehouse and delivery operations. That area has had significant turnover.
The company is investing heavily in building more warehouses and boosting pay to attract workers, in order to catch up to strong demand from shoppers seeking products delivered to their homes.
Jassy said Amazon has been “very competitive on the compensation side”.
He said: “We’ve led the way in the $15 minimum wage”, and for some states on average that “really, the starting salary is US$17 an hour”.
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Of the more than 55,000 jobs Jassy announced, over 40,000 will be in the US, while others will be in countries such as India, Germany and Japan.
Amazon previously promised a big tech hiring binge in 2017, when it sought a location for its second headquarters. Officials at cities and states across North America fawned on the company for its jobs and tax dollars.
Arlington, Virginia, the “HQ2” contest winner that so far has a small fraction of the 25,000 roles Amazon has promised it over a decade, currently has about 2,800 openings. The city of Bellevue where Amazon is growing near its hometown Seattle has another 2,000.
The career fair will be global. That’s after Amazon saw 22,000 people tune in last year from India, among other locales outside the US, Jassy said.


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United States

Amazon eyes 55,000 new tech workers in US, Japan, India, as retail and cloud businesses grow

Amazon’s move follows a period of heightened scrutiny of its labour practices. File photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: A worker assembles a box for delivery at the Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: Amazon's Andy Jassy speaks at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

One of the largest ‘Made in China, sold on Amazon’ companies had 340 stores closed, US$20 million in funds frozen amid crackdown

The new Amazon app icon is seen on an iPhone, showing a blue packing tape above the company’s signature smile-shaped arrow. Photo: Shutterstock

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Amazon.com’s action against Shenzhen Youkeshu Technology Co is expected to result in a 40 to 60 per cent drop in the company’s first-half sales. Photo: Shutterstock

Richest retirement ever? Jeff Bezos is stepping down from Amazon at 57 with US$199 billion

Jeff Bezos retired with US$199 billion – almost 740,000 times that of the average American retiree. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Founder and former chairman, CEO and president of Amazon Jeff Bezos unveils his space company Blue Origin’s space exploration lunar lander rocket called Blue Moon during an event in Washington, in May 2019. Photo: Reuters

An Amazon.com worker picks orders at an Amazon fulfilment centre in January 2015, in Tracy, California. Photo: Getty Images

Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos addresses the media about the New Shepard rocket booster and Crew Capsule mock-up at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in April 2017. Photo: Reuters

How did new Amazon CEO Andy Jassy get his start? Jeff Bezos’ ‘shadow adviser’ grew Amazon Web Services into a US$40 billion business, now he’s overseeing one of the world’s most valuable companies

Andy Jassy, who leads Amazon Web Services, will replace Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as CEO by autumn. Above, Jassy poses for a portrait at one of the companyâ€TMs South Lake Union buildings in 2016. (Johnny Andrews/The Seattle Times/TNS)

AWS CEO Andy Jassy discusses a new initiative with the NFL during AWS Re: Invent 2019 in Las Vegas. Photo: AP Images for NFL

Amazon Web Services. Photo: @amazonwebservices/Instagram

Andy Jassy, centre, with Western Digital CIO Steven Phillpott, left, and VMware CEO Patrick Gelsinger in 2016. Photo: The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Andy Jassy and his family. Photo: Facebook

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World

United States & Canada


The positions Amazon is marketing include engineering, research science and robotics roles
Of the jobs, over 40,000 will be in the US, while others will be in countries such as India, Germany and Japan



The positions Amazon is marketing include engineering, research science and robotics roles


Amazon

Jobs