Amazon Looking To Hire 11K+ Workers In DFW, With An Average $18+ Per Hour Salary
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Amazon says it is planning to hire some 125,000 delivery and warehouse workers nationwide -- paying the new employees an average of $18 an hour in a tight job market.
Competition for hourly workers has become fierce, and many companies are offering higher pay, sign-on bonuses and other incentives.
Last week, package delivery company UPS promised to handout job offers in 30 minutes after candidates apply for many of the 100,000 holiday workers it plans to hire.
Amazon officials said of the 125K new jobs more than 17,000 will be in Texas -- with some 11,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone.
In an interview on September 14, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said the national grocery chain has 20,000 positions it is struggling to fill.
"We're aggressively hiring anywhere we can," McMullen said. "One of the biggest constraints we have right now is finding talented people."
Amazon's starting pay is still $15 per hour, but with labor markets growing so tight in regions of the country, the company said new hires could make as much as $22.50 an hour. It's also paying sign-on bonuses of $3,000 in some places.
When it began paying at least $15 an hour in 2018, Amazon was one of the first major companies to do so. But others have caught up. Target and Best Buy pay $15 an hour, too. Costco pays $16 an hour.
Companies are having a difficult time finding workers even though the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits reach pandemic lows. Rising infections with the arrival of the delta variant appear partially to blame.
America's employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring and the clearest sign to date that the delta variant's spread has discouraged economic activity, and potentially job seekers.
More people have shifted from stores to online shopping over the past year during the pandemic, and retailers have adjusted hiring to accommodate those patterns. Amazon, which is now the nation's second-largest private employer, hired 500,000 people last year alone.
To keep up with the surge in online ordering, Amazon said that it has opened more than 250 new warehouses, airport hubs and other delivery facilities this year. It plans to open another 100 this month alone.
The company said most of its job openings are in 18 states: Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington.
To help job seekers around the country, Amazon is hosting a Career Day September 15.
The free virtual event will offer 20,000 individual career-coaching sessions with Amazon recruiters to help participants land their next job, as well as thousands of additional sessions for Amazon employees looking to transition to higher-paying roles within the company or elsewhere.
The event is open to all, regardless of their level of experience, professional field, or background.
To register, click here.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Caroline Vandergriff contributed to this report.
(Originally Posted 9/14/2021)