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Amazon announced that it is looking to hire an additional 75,000 employees across its operations in light of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The group said that it continues to see “increased demand” as its teams support communities amid the ongoing pandemic, and for this reason will create the additional 75,000 jobs to “help serve customers during this unprecedented time”.
The online retail giant said that the new hiring push follows a successful fulfillment of 100,000 new jobs over the past four weeks. The group had announced its original hiring push in March to respond to initial surged demand amid the escalating crisis.
In the same March announcement, the retailer also revealed that all UK staff would have their wages increased to £2 an hour.
In its latest coronavirus response update, the retailer said: “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, and we welcome anyone out of work to join us at Amazon until their past employer can bring them back.
“We also continue to invest in pay increases and previously expected to spend $350m(£278m) to increase wages during this unprecedented time. We now expect that to be over $500m.”
It added: “Health and safety are a top priority with all of our roles and sites. We continue to consult with medical and health experts, and take all recommended precautions in our buildings and stores to keep people healthy.
“We’ve taken measures to promote social distancing in the workplace and taken on enhanced and frequent cleaning, to name just a few.”
