E-retailer seeks more workers
2020.03.25
AMAZON (亞馬遜公司) needs to hire 100,000 people across the US to keep up with a crush of orders as the coronavirus spreads and keeps more people at home and shopping online.
The online retailer said it will also temporarily raise pay by US$2 (HK$15.6) an hour through to the end of April for hourly employees.
That includes workers at its warehouses, delivery centres and Whole Foods grocery stores, all of whom make at least US$15 (HK117) an hour. Employees in the United Kingdom (英國) and other European countries will get a similar rise.
“We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which means our labour needs are unprecedented for this time of year,” said Dave Clark, who oversees Amazon’s warehouse and delivery network.
Amazon said a surge of orders is putting its operations under pressure. It warned shoppers that it could take longer than the usual two days to get packages. It also said that many household cleaning supplies were sold out and it is working to get more in stock.
Earlier, Amazon told its hourly workers that they could take as much time off as they wanted in March, although they would only be paid if they had earned time off.
Additionally, Amazon said it would pay hourly workers for up to two weeks if they contracted the virus or needed to be quarantined.
Amazon is already the second-largest US-based employer behind Walmart, with nearly 800,000 workers worldwide.
(This article is published on Junior Standard on 25 March 2020)
Anti-epidemic Fund – Hong Kong
A “short, sharp” global recession looks inevitable
