Amazon.com on Friday said it will be hiring more than 15,000 people to fill temporary jobs at shipping centers around the country this holiday season to help with the upcoming busy shopping months, more than it hired a year ago.
The online retailer said it will hire more than 5,000 people at its Phoenix and Goodyear, Arizona centers, and 4,000 in Pennsylvania at locations including Allentown, Hazleton and Lewisberry.
It will also hire 2,500 people in Whitestown and Plainfield, Indiana and more than 2,000 each in Hebron, Kentucky and Fernley, Nevada.
Amazon said it is hiring more people this year than last, but did not say exactly how many more.
Many retailers are also hiring more temporary workers for the holiday season, including Kohl’s Corp., Macy’s Inc., Toys R Us, Pier 1 Imports Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
Upwards of 650,000 jobs will be filled at retailers around the country this season, according to an updated forecast from national outsourcing firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
That is a big increase from the 500,000 added last year, but still far below the 720,000 added in 2007 when the recession began.
Online sales account for about 10 percent of US holiday sales, but are growing. Research firm comScore said it expects the online retail sector to grow 7 to 9 percent compared with a year ago, when online holiday sales were 4 percent higher than the year before.
Amazon.com shares fell $4.55 or 2.7 percent to $165.82 on Friday.
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