In anticipation of increased demand during the upcoming holiday season, Amazon.com (AMZN -1.65%) intends to hire 70,000 temporary employees, with the expectation that thousands of the new hires will fill "regular, full-time roles" into 2014, Amazon announced today. According to Amazon.com's statement, the 70,000 new hires represent a 40% increase over last year's seasonal hiring blitz.
The new, temporary hires will work in Amazon.com's fulfillment centers located in 14 states across the United States. Regarding the opportunities for seasonal employees to secure full-time positions, Dave Clark, Amazon.com's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said, "So far this year, we have converted more than 7,000 temporary employees in the U.S. into full-time, regular roles, and we're looking forward to converting thousands more after this holiday season."
Amazon's plans to bring on 70,000 employees for the holidays matches Target's (TGT -0.42%) intentions of hiring 70,000 new employees, which is a 20% reduction from last year. Macy's (M -1.47%) said it will hire 83,000 temporary employees this season, 3,000 more than 2012. Industry-leading Wal-Mart (WMT 1.21%) will add 55,000 seasonal associates this year, a 10% increase from 2012.
Seasonal hiring is viewed by many as a precursor to how bullish retailers are for the all-important holiday shopping season.
