Amazon to bring over 2,500 jobs to the Central Valley as part of widespread hiring spree
Amazon is recruiting more than 100,000 workers across the U.S. and Canada in anticipation of the holiday season, over 2,500 of which will be hired across the Central Valley.
According to an Amazon spokesperson, the company is adding over 4,000 jobs throughout Northern California, with 1,700 in the Sacramento area and 2,600 planned for the Central Valley. Brittany Parmley, a PR manager for Amazon Operations, said the Central Valley jobs will be available in Tracy, Patterson and Stockton. She added that jobs range from packing customer orders to positions in HR and finance within the individual buildings.
Wages will start at $15 per hour, Parmley said, and benefits like health and dental insurance, as well as a 401(k) match, will be available “on day one.” Select positions also come with a sign-on bonus of up to $1,000. Jobs are available for those with and without a college degree, and those interested can apply immediately on Amazon’s website. She also added that the company has an internal program available to employees called “career choice”, which helps workers get certifications in fields that they’re interested in order to set them up for their chosen long-term career paths.
The company’s most recent hiring spree is the fourth it has rolled out this year. E-commerce sales have skyrocketed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic as people were forced to stay home and limit their trips to physical retailers. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, experienced a 40% revenue rise last quarter and the biggest profit in its 26-year-history. In March, the company added 175,000 new jobs across the region as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the globe.
Amazon has faced criticism surrounding worker safety during the pandemic, but Parmley said the company has implemented “hundreds of safety process changes” to ensure compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. She said warehouse employees are subject to regular temperature checks and that there are designated “social distancing ambassadors” in each building. There are acrylic shields partitioning workers and sanitizing stations throughout the warehouses, and Parmley said Amazon has doubled its janitorial staff.
The new job openings are available at 100 new warehouse and operations sites across the United States and Canada. As of June 30, the Seattle-based company employed 876,800 people, excluding temporary personnel and contractors. “Amazon is proud to be a part of the Central Valley community,” Parmley said. “We’re excited to welcome members of the community to apply for these jobs.